Ahead of a sensitive visit to China, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Beijing of ongoing genocide against Uyghur Muslims.
This accusation echoes previous years’ language in the State Department’s annual human rights report concerning China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The report alleges genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups.
Blinken’s comments are notable due to the timing of his trip to China, where he intends to discuss key topics with Chinese officials, including the war in Ukraine and global trade. In the report’s preface, Blinken stressed the ongoing grave human rights abuses in China and highlighted the detention of over one million people in camps and prisons, along with the use of re-education camps.
China has repeatedly denied these accusations, asserting that the alleged concentration camps are vocational training centers aimed at combating terrorism, separatism, and religious radicalism. Blinken, who endorsed a determination of genocide under his predecessor, intends to raise human rights issues with Chinese officials during his trip.
