US sanctions over Xinjiang’s Uygur internment camps are ‘ready to go’ except for Treasury hold-up due to trade war, sources say
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is ‘delaying action’ because of concerns it will disrupt tariff negotiations with China
- Even so, some hope US VP Mike Pence could preview the sanctions next week, ahead of talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping
The US government is poised to punish Chinese officials over the mass internment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, months after a previous round of discussions about sanctions was quashed at the cabinet level, according to a US official and two other individuals briefed on the matter.
A newly prepared sanctions package has gained working-level consensus across several departments, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is said to have held up the action due to concern that it could disrupt trade negotiations, which have resumed in advance of the meeting next week between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Japan at the G20 conference.
Mnuchin – a moderate in an administration marked by its hard line in dealings with China – was reported to have impeded a move to consider similar sanctions in December, after Trump and Xi last met.
Sources said there was agreement across multiple agencies at the working level on the need for and details of the sanctions, which would come under the Global Magnitsky Act, an Obama-era tool that freezes the US-based assets and restricts travel of foreign individuals deemed responsible for human rights abuses.
“The sanctions are ready,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They’re ready to go.”
That account was confirmed by people recently briefed by the government, including Omer Kanat of the Uygur Human Rights Project.