China dismisses Pompeo Uighur genocide claims

Beijing, Jan. 20: China’s Foreign Ministry described outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday as a “doomsday clown” and said his designation of China as a perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity was merely “a piece of wastepaper.”

The allegations of abuses against Muslim minority groups in China’s Xinjiang region are “outright sensational pseudo-propositions and a malicious farce concocted by individual anti-China and antiCommunist forces represented by Pompeo,” spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters at a daily briefing.

“In our view, Pompeo’s so-called designation is a piece of wastepaper. This American politician, who is notorious for lying and deceiving, is turning himself into a doomsday clown and joke of the century with his last madness and lies of the century,” Hau said.

Pompeo’s announcement on Tuesday doesn't require any immediate actions, although the US must take the designation into account in formulating policy toward China. China says its policies in Xinjiang aim only to promote economic growth and social stability.

The US has previously spoken out and taken action on Xinjiang, implementing a range of sanctions against senior Chinese Communist Party leaders and state-run enterprises that fund repressive policies in the vast, resource-rich region. Last week, the Trump administration announced it would halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang, with Customs and Border Protection officials saying they would block products from there suspected of being produced with forced labour. Many of the Chinese officials accused of having taken part in repression are already under US sanctions. —