On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Minister has called the outgoing U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo a “doomsday clown.” He also said that the designation of China as a perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity was “a piece of wastepaper.”
However, although this piece of wastepaper as per Chinese description, will not have any immediate effects, the U.S. will have to consider this designation when formulating Chinese policies.
The United States of America has condemned China’s action in the Xinjiang region. It is alleged the communist government has imposed some of its most repressive policies against the local Muslim population, in this region which is vast and rich in resources.
Last week, the Trump administration had announced that it would stop the import of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang and block products from the region as they are suspected of being made using forced labor.
The Associated Press had reported that forced birth control measures were implemented on the minority Uighurs last year. They are mainly Muslim. In contrast China’s dominant Han group faced less restrictions on family planning, when compared to earlier Chinese policies.
According to U.S. officials and human rights groups the Uighurs and other ethnic groups, mainly Muslims, have been interred in a huge camps and indoctrinated. They have faced torture, sterilization and forced labor to assimilate them into the Han Chinese majority.
China had denied these charges, but AP has reported that forced labor was used to manufacture clothing and electronic equipment including cameras and computer monitors that were imported by the U.S.
A specialist in Chinese ethnic policy from La Trobe, Melbourne, Australia, James Leibold has said that international pressure has had some effect on Chinese policies. He hoped that the new Biden government will hold “China to account.”
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