How Mike Pompeo’s ‘genocide’ label for China over Xinjiang may set tone for Joe Biden

Name: US declares China has committed genocide in its treatment of Uygurs in Xinjiang
Uploaded: 2021-01-20T13:30:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 27 s
Description: US declares China has committed genocide in its treatment of Uygurs in Xinjiang

Biden government may have scope to escalate actions after outgoing administration says genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Xinjiang

But Biden can refine the approach, some observers say, even with consensus in Washington on taking stand against China’s policies for ethnic minorities

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The incoming administration has indicated it agrees with Mike Pompeo’s determination that Beijing’s abuses against Uygurs and other minorities amount to genocide. Photo: AFP

Sarah Zheng

Published: 9:30pm, 20 Jan 2021Updated: 12:36am, 21 Jan 2021

The outgoing US government’s assessment that China has committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang was among the last acts of the Donald Trump administration that observers said could cement its legacy on Beijing and reduce Joe Biden’s ability to change course.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has used his final days in office to define the ruling Chinese Communist Party as the “central threat of our time”, crediting the Trump administration for “changing the global conversation on China”.

Pompeo announced on Tuesday that Beijing’s policies against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang constituted genocide, following days of placing sanctions on mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials for the political crackdown in Hong Kong, restricting visas for Chinese individuals responsible for militarisation of the South China Sea, and removing restrictions on US officials engaging with Taiwanese counterparts.

Beijing has bristled at Pompeo’s statements, with Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying calling his legacy one of “lying diplomacy” that has “not only bankrupted his own reputation but also rendered irreversible damage to the national image and interests of the United States”.

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US declares China has committed genocide in its treatment of Uygurs in Xinjiang

Hua on Wednesday dismissed the Xinjiang designation as a “waste of paper and a lie” and described Pompeo as a “doomsday clown”.