Congress urges Trump administration to get tougher on China’s Xinjiang crackdown
- More than 75 lawmakers call for formal determination of whether Beijing’s treatment of Uygurs constitutes an atrocity, including genocide
- Group led by China hardliner Marco Rubio seeks sanctions on Chinese officials in letter to Pompeo and Mnuchin
More than 75 US senators and House members on Thursday urged the Trump administration to take a tougher stance on China over its crackdown in that country’s Xinjiang province and make a formal determination whether its treatment of Muslim Uygurs and other groups constitutes an atrocity, including genocide.
“It is time for action,” members of the Senate and House of Representatives, led by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, asking them to sanction the Chinese officials responsible for the mistreatment of Uygurs.
“These human rights abuses demand a response from the United States as well as the international community because evidence strongly indicates that the Chinese government is intentionally working to destroy and essentially wipe out Uygur families, culture, and religious adherence and encouraging violence against women,” said the letter, seen by Reuters.
The group also asked the administration to work with allies and partners to hold a Security Council meeting at the United Nations to appoint a special rapporteur to look into the situation in Xinjiang province.
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US House of Representatives sends Uygur Human Rights Policy Act to Trump’s desk for approval
The United States and China have been at loggerheads for months over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing’s imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong.
