The US national security adviser said on Friday that China was perpetrating “something like” genocide in its treatment of Muslims in its Xinjiang region.
“If it is not genocide, something similar is happening in Xinjiang,” Robert O’Brien said at an online event organized by the Aspen Institute, while highlighting other Chinese repressions, including one against the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.
The United States has denounced China’s treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and imposed sanctions on officials it blames for the abuses. However, it has so far not branded Beijing’s actions genocide, a designation that would have significant legal implications and require stronger action against China.
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang and activists say crimes against humanity and genocide are being committed there. China has denied any abuse, saying its camps in the region provide vocational training and help combat extremism.
O’Brien referred to the seizures by US customs of “massive quantities” of hair products made from human hair from Xinjiang.
“The Chinese are literally shaving the heads of Uighur women and making hair products and shipping them to America,” he said.
US Customs and Border Protection said in June that it had stopped a shipment from Xinjiang of hair products and accessories suspected of being forced labor products made from human hair.
In June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called reports that China was using forced sterilization, forced abortion and coercive family planning against Muslims in Xinjiang as “shocking” and “disturbing”.
He said that last month Washington was considering the language it would use to describe what is happening in the region, but added: “When the United States talks about crimes against humanity or genocide … we have to be very careful and very precise because it has a huge weight. “
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