Trump takes parting shot at China
Trump team takes parting shot at China
WASHINGTON •Thetrump administration has determined that China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, delivering an embarrassing blow to Beijing a day before U.S. president-elect Joe Biden is set to take office.
Pompeo said he made the move — which is certain to strain further already frayed ties between the world’s top economies — “after careful examination of the available facts,” accusing the Chinese Communist Party of crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since at least March 2017.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state,” Pompeo said in a statement.
China has been widely condemned for its Xinjiang complexes, which it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills and which others have called concentration camps. It denies accusations of abuse.
The rare U.S. determination follows intensive internal debate after Congress passed legislation on Dec. 27
requiring the U.S. administration to determine within 90 days if forced labour or other alleged crimes against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are crimes against humanity or a genocide.
Biden’s campaign declared, before the Nov. 3 U.S. election, that genocide was occurring in Xinjiang. But Pompeo’s move will ensure an especially difficult start to the new administration’s relations with Beijing, with U.s.-china ties having plummeted to their lowest level in decades during the last year of President Donald Trump’s administration.
A spokesman for Biden’s transition declined to comment on a possible genocide determination before the new administration takes office on Wednesday.
China’s Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but last week rejected as “lies” a congressional report that said “crimes against humanity —
and possibly genocide — are occurring” in Xinjiang.
The U.S. decision does not automatically unleash any penalties, but it means countries will have to think hard about allowing companies to do business with Xinjiang, a leading global supplier of cotton. Last week the United States imposed a ban on all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang.
“We’re hoping that the determination today will encourage others to speak out ... and to also join us in taking actions to hold those responsible for these atrocities,” a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
An independent UN human rights panel said in 2018 that it had received credible reports that at least one million Uyghurs and other Muslims had been detained in Xinjiang. Faith leaders, activists and others have said crimes against humanity, including genocide, are taking place.