US hits China with visa sanctions over ‘forced assimilation’ of Tibetan children
- The move targets Chinese officials behind state boarding schools, a policy UN experts say has resulted in 1 million children being separated from their families
- China called the US-backed allegations ‘smears’ that ‘seriously undermine China-US relations’
The United States said on Tuesday it was imposing visa sanctions on Chinese officials pursuing “forced assimilation” of children in Tibet, where UN experts say 1 million children have been separated from their families.
In the latest of a series of US moves on Beijing despite a resumption of high-level dialogue, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would restrict visas to Chinese officials behind the policy of state boarding schools.
“These coercive policies seek to eliminate Tibet’s distinct linguistic, cultural and religious traditions among younger generations of Tibetans,” Blinken said in a statement.
“We urge PRC authorities to end the coercion of Tibetan children into government-run boarding schools and to cease repressive assimilation policies, both in Tibet and throughout other parts of the PRC,” he said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
The United States since 2021 has accused China of waging genocide in another region, Xinjiang, through what US officials, rights groups and witnesses say is a vast network of forced labour camps. China denies the charge.