Article by
Ahmed Shahir YILDIRIM
In the run-up to the US election, Joe Biden said in one of his campaigns that China’s cruel and discriminatory treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in northwestern Xinjiang was “genocide.”
Other research shows that Chinese authorities force Uyghur women to avoid pregnancy or abortion, subject them to extensive sterilization, and place them in camps if they resist. And this is an attempt to control the Uyghur population according to the UN definition of genocide. And genocide is a serious crime under international law, and experts say reports of widespread surveillance, torture, arbitrary detention, and forced detention by China against Uyghurs mean “population genocide.”
Many countries and international organizations have repeatedly criticized China for its treatment of its people, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet.But the Chinese government claims that these camps are just training and job centers, and that they are teaching job skills to the people.
The United States recently imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved in harassing Uyghurs and punished companies that allegedly trusted Uyghur coercion. Beijing, meanwhile, has vehemently denied committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
While there is growing evidence of gross human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uighur minority population. And horrific behavior based on their religion and identity continues in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.Work camps the most compelling example is China’s inhumane policies against the Uyghurs, but even those outside the camps are subject to repressive policies.
Chinese officials began using private camps in Xinjiang around 2014. China’s repression of the Uyghurs was initially part of a policy of “extreme extremism.” Under the policy, Beijing imposed strict restrictions on Xinjiang to erase the Uighur Islamic religious and cultural identity, including imprisoning hundreds of thousands in so-called “education” camps.Experts estimate that about 3 million people have disappeared in these camps, and that about 1 million people are currently being held there.
Xinjiang, home to about 11 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, is an autonomous region in northwestern China that shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia and has been under the control of the People’s Republic of China since 1949.
The Trump administration has not described the use of Beijing as genocide, but National Security Council spokesman John Eliot condemned China’s treatment of the Uyghurs.
“The main question is, if Donald Trump acts, if he does something that is a trial, he should also apologize for acknowledging this horrible behavior of the Uyghurs,” the campaign said.
But a senior Trump administration official said that over the past year, the United States has imposed all sorts of restrictions and sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the area where Uyghurs are being held.
Joe Biden was quoted as saying by two advisers that he would consult with Washington allies on the future of US tariffs on Chinese goods immediately after winning the November 3 election. They added that Biden would seek “leverage of collective pressure” to strengthen Washington’s stance against Beijing. “The Trump administration failed because of its monopoly because China survived,” said a senior foreign policy official in the Obama administration.
Biden’s advisers said he would consult with US allies first instead of taking unilateral action.
So, will Biden ignore the tyrannies of the ruling Communist Party over the Uyghurs and the Muslim minority to improve Washington’s relations with Beijing and expand US trade with China?
