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Image source,Reuters
US Secretary of State Pompeo declared on Tuesday (19) that China has committed ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
The Trump administration issued this determination on the last day of his term, dealing a “last blow” to Beijing.
Pompeo condemned in his statement that China has imprisoned more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and forced them to work, control birth rates and restrict their religious freedom.
The statement read: “After carefully studying the existing facts, I have determined that, under the leadership and control of the CCP, China is carrying out ethnic cleansing against Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities who are mainly Muslim in Xinjiang.”
“I think this is an ongoing ethnic cleansing and we are witnessing the Chinese communist regime’s attempt to systematically destroy the Uighurs,” Pompeo said.
China has always denied having forcibly imprisoned Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, saying they are receiving job training to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in October last year: “The so-called ‘genocide’ in Xinjiang is a deliberate rumor invented by some anti-China forces and a sham to smear China.
Why is the identification of “ethnic cleansing” significant?
As defined by international conventions, ethnic cleansing (genocide, also translated as genocide) refers to “deliberately destroying a certain nation, race, race or religious group in whole or in part.”
This is the first time that a country has determined that China’s actions in Xinjiang are “ethnic cleansing” and is the strongest statement of any country on the Xinjiang issue.
Members of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries have repeatedly condemned China’s Xinjiang policy. The outside world hopes that they may consider following the United States in making an “ethnic cleansing” determination and putting more pressure on China. Parliamentarians and officials from many countries have called for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
What does this determination mean for the Biden administration?
The determination of the US State Department does not have an immediate political impact, but may trigger a series of legal and administrative proceedings that force the Biden administration, which will take office tomorrow (January 20), to issue policies against Xinjiang as soon as possible.
Analysts believe the Biden administration’s original priority is to control the US epidemic and stabilize the economy and political chaos, but the Trump administration’s escalating Xinjiang problem at the last minute will inevitably insert this problem into the new team of the White House. Priority agenda.
Biden’s campaign team had previously used the term “ethnic cleansing” to describe China’s actions in Xinjiang and vowed to further sanction China on human rights issues.
Why did the United States issue a certification at this time?
The New York Times reported that there has been a long and fierce debate within the Trump administration over whether to publicly identify “ethnic cleansing.” Including Pompeo and China’s hawks who are in charge of national security support this determination, while economic advisers who value trade relations with China oppose the action.
The Trump administration previously sanctioned several Chinese officials and entities who violated human rights in Xinjiang, and announced a few days ago that it would stop importing cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang.
Xinjiang is a major cotton producing area and the ban will have a profound impact on the global trade supply chain.
For the governments of many countries, including Washington, due to the extremely close economic and trade ties with China, even if some of the trade is blocked, it will have an overall impact on their own economies. With regard to China’s politics, it will be increasingly difficult to strike a balance between human rights and economic issues.
Investigation Exposes Uighur Forced Labor Behind China’s Cotton Industry
What is China’s response?
Chinese officials have yet to make a statement on this determination in Pompeo’s statement.
In October last year, when several US senators launched a resolution to promote the definition of “genocide,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin asked in a rhetorical question whether US actions against indigenous people in the story “are they” genocide “?
Earlier this month, Twitter deleted a tweet posted by the Chinese Embassy in the United States, which claimed that Uighur women had “liberated” their minds due to Xinjiang policies.
Twitter claimed this tweet violated Twitter rules, but did not provide further details.
