BEIJING (AP) – China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday described US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a “clown of the final trial” and said his designation of China as the perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity was only “a role of rejection.”
Allegations of abuse against Muslim minority groups in China’s Xinjiang region are “sensational pseudo-proposals and a malicious farce invented by anti-Chinese and anti-communist forces represented by Pompey,” spokesman Hua Chunying told reporters in a news session. daily.
“From our point of view, the so-called designation of Pompey is a role of rejection. This American politician, who is famous for lying and cheating, becomes a clown and a joke of the last century with his latest madness and lies of the century, ”Hau said.
Pompeo’s announcement on Tuesday does not require any immediate action, although the U.S. must consider the designation in formulating policy toward China. China says its policies in Xinjiang only aim to promote economic growth and social stability.
The United States has previously ruled and taken action on Xinjiang, imposing a series of sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders and state-run companies that fund repressive policies in the vast resource-rich region. Last week, the Trump administration announced it would stop imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang, and Customs and Border Protection officials said they would block products suspected of occurring through forced labor.
Many of the Chinese officials accused of taking part in the crackdown are already under US sanctions. The designation “genocide” means that new measures will be easier to impose.
Tuesday’s move is the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken to increase pressure on China over human rights issues and the coronavirus pandemic in Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong. and the South China Sea. China has responded with its own sanctions and harsh rhetoric.
China has imprisoned more than a million people, including Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, in an extensive network of prison-like political indoctrination camps, according to U.S. officials and human rights groups. People have been subjected to torture, sterilization and political indoctrination in addition to forced labor as part of an assimilation campaign in a region whose inhabitants are ethnically and culturally different from what most Chinese have.
The Associated Press reported widespread control of forced births among Uyghurs last year, including the mass sterilization of Muslim women, even while family planning restrictions were restricted to members of China’s dominant Han ethnic group.
China has denied all charges, but Uyghur forced labor has been linked to reports by the PA of various products imported into the U.S., including clothing and electronic items such as cameras and computer monitors.
James Leibold, a Chinese ethnic policy specialist at La Trobe in Melbourne, Australia, said international pressure appears to have had some effect on Chinese policies in Xinjiang, particularly in pushing the government to release information about the camps and possibly to reduce mass arrests.
“So hopefully we will see continued continuity with regard to the new government (Joe Biden) in holding China accountable,” Leibold said in an interview.
“And we hope the Biden administration can bring in its allies to continue to put pressure on the Chinese government,” he said.
___
Associated Press journalist Dake Kang contributed to this report.