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Security guards stand guard at the gate of the vocational training center in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China – Photo: REUTERS
Pompeo said he made the statement “after carefully examining the available data,” accusing the Beijing government of committing crimes against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. at least as of March 2017.
“I believe this genocide is happening and we are witnessing a systematic effort to destroy the Uighurs of China,” Pompeo announced on January 19.
In recent years, many countries have condemned China for building detention centers in the form of concentration camps in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, Beijing responded, saying they were “vocational training centers”, denying the accusations of persecuting Muslim minorities in the area.
On December 27, 2020, the United States Congress passed a law requiring the Washington administration to determine within 90 days whether China committed a crime against humanity or genocide, according to the Reuters news agency.
Additionally, Antony Blinken, who was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden as Secretary of State, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his nomination confirmation hearing on January 19 that he agreed with the cessation statement. are.
“I think we totally agree. Forcing men, women and children to go to concentration camps that are actually trying to educate them to be ideological followers, all that. He said the efforts to carry out genocide” – said the Mr. Blinken.
Mr. Blinken said that one of the things he will do during his first 30 days as Secretary of State is to “make sure that he does not import products made by forced labor in Xinjiang.”
The Chinese embassy in the United States has yet to comment on the above information. Last week they rejected a report from the US Congress that said “crimes against humanity and possibly genocide are taking place” in Xinjiang.
Relations between the United States and China have fallen to their lowest level in decades under the Trump administration. The declaration of genocide would ensure an especially difficult start for the Biden administration’s relationship with China.
