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WASHINGTON: The United States Senate passed legislation Thursday (May 14) that urges President Donald Trump’s government to tighten its response to China’s crackdown on its Uighur Muslim minority, the latest push in Washington to punish China. , as Trump blames Beijing for worsening the coronavirus pandemic.
The Republican-led Senate passed the bill unanimously, without a roll-call vote.
Passage sends the measure to the Democratic-led House of Representatives, which must approve it before sending it to the White House for Trump to sign the law or veto.
The House overwhelmingly passed its own legislation late last year in response to the treatment of Uighurs. That move required sanctions against senior Chinese officials responsible for the crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang province, which angered China.
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Uighur Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang in recent years. China denies the mistreatment of Uighurs and says the camps provide vocational training.
The impetus for stronger American action against the Uighurs comes as relations between the Trump administration and Beijing steadily worsen over the global COVID-19 pandemic. Washington has attributed much of the devastating impact of the health crisis to China’s lack of transparency about the initial outbreak there.
China denies mishandling the outbreak.
