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US Classifies China's Policies Toward Uighurs as 'Genocide'

Nike Ching

   WASHINGTON - In the final hours of the President Donald Trump's
   administration, the United States Tuesday formally labeled the Chinese
   government's policies targeting ethnic Uighur Muslims and other
   minorities in the northwest region of Xinjiang as "genocide."

   "After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined
   that the PRC [People's Republic of China], under the direction and
   control of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], has committed genocide
   against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious
   minority groups in Xinjiang," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a
   statement Tuesday.
   The United States has for years criticized China's detention and
   reeducation policies in Xinjiang but has held off formally declaring
   the policies as a genocide.
   Reports from non-government organizations, journalists and former
   detainees have documented a wide-ranging campaign of repression against
   Uighurs. The United Nations estimated at least one million Muslim
   Uighurs are held in internment camps.

   Chinese officials describe them as "vocational education centers" for
   job training, rejecting any claim that authorities are engaged in human
   rights abuses in Xinjiang.

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