The US said the world must be willing to pay Beijing costs for its crimes against minority Muslims in Xinjiang.
The United States said Friday it would work to rally allies and partners to speak with one voice to condemn China’s abuse against minority Muslims in Xinjiang and the “oppression” that is taking place in Hong Kong.
The administration of President Joe Biden, who took office in January, has endorsed a statement by the previous administration of Donald Trump that China is committing genocide in Xinjiang and has declared that the US must be ready to pay Beijing the cost of its actions there and to impose his actions in Hong Kong and threats against Taiwan.
“I don’t think anyone is satisfied with the international response to what happened in Xinjiang yet,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Friday.
“And that is exactly why we are electroplating the world in so many ways, electroplating collective action to make it clear that such human rights violations will not be tolerated in Xinjiang and elsewhere,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry and rights groups have documented crimes against Uyghurs, including sexual violence, torture, forced labor and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion, expression and movement [File: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo]Last week, Human Rights Watch said in a report that China has cracked down on Muslims in Xinjiang by imposing long sentences on dubious charges.
United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet last week blew up reports of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Uyghurs, including sexual violence and forced labor, and called for an independent investigation into the situation.
The US State Department said the Chinese government has committed crimes against humanity and continues to arbitrarily detain more than a million civilians in detention centers. The crimes also include torture, forced labor and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion, expression and movement.
During the press conference on Friday, the US urged China to change the electoral system in Hong Kong so that it directly attacks its autonomy and democratic processes.
Earlier on Friday, Beijing proposed laws that would exacerbate Hong Kong’s increasingly authoritarian influence by making changes to the election committee that selects the city’s leader and giving him new powers to nominate legislative candidates.
The move, due to be approved during a weeklong session of China’s Stamp Parliament, would further marginalize a democratic opposition that was decimated after Beijing imposed national security laws after anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.
The US condemned China’s “ongoing attack on democratic institutions in Hong Kong,” Price said.
Price called Beijing’s moves “a direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy … freedoms and democratic processes”.
“If these measures were implemented, they would drastically undermine Hong Kong’s democratic institutions,” he said.
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