US considers sanctioning Chinese officials over crackdown that detained ‘tens of thousands’ of Muslims in Xinjiang
State Department warns that those responsible for holding ‘tens of thousands’ of Xinjiang residents could be targeted under Magnitsky Act
A senior American official said on Wednesday that the United States would pursue sanctions on Chinese officials involved in a sweeping security crackdown in the western region of Xinjiang if they were deemed appropriate for designation under a law targeting human rights offenders.
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Laura Stone said the US was deeply concerned about China’s detention of at least “tens of thousands” of ethnic Uygurs and other Muslims and could take action under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act.
Beijing has defended its crackdown as a “People’s War on Terror” and a necessary move to purge separatist and religious extremist elements from Xinjiang, a vast region with more than 10 million Muslims.
But an extrajudicial detention programme has swept up many people, including relatives of American citizens, accused of offences ranging from accessing foreign websites to contacting overseas relatives.
