Human Rights & Public Liberties

Human Rights & Public Liberties

Newsletter
Published on: 13 Jan, 2021

Pompeo accuses China of crimes against humanity against Uighurs

Published on: 20 January, 2021

On Tuesday US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China and the Chinese Communist Party of carrying out genocide against Muslim Uighurs and other minority groups in the western Xinjiang region. It was his strongest accusations over China’s actions in Xinjiang.

“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state” Pompeo said.

Pompeo made this statement 24 hours before President-elect Jo Biden takes office. There was no response from Biden.

Pompeo added that the Chinese government is “engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group, even as they simultaneously assert their country as a global leader and attempt to remold the international system in their image.”

China’s suppression of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other groups meets the UN definition of genocide. The report referred to a campaign of mass sterilizations, forced abortions and mandatory birth control by the Chinese government.

The Chinese government has denied any human rights abuses, saying instead that its mass campaign targeting Muslims in Xinjiang province is about economic development and counterterrorism.