WASHINGTON

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday there will be "repercussions" for China over its human rights abuses. 

"We must speak up for human rights. So we are," said Biden in response to a question by moderator Anderson Cooper on China's treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in the country's northwest.

Biden was speaking at a CNN town hall in the state of Wisconsin.

The US president recalled that he talked to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for two hours last week and they know each other "well."

Asked if there will be any repercussions against China over the rights abuses, Biden said: "Well, there will be repercussions for China, and he [Xi] knows that.”

He pledged to continue to reassert America’s role as spokespersons for human rights at the UN and other agencies that have an impact on China's attitude.

"China is trying very hard to become the world leader. And to get that moniker and be able to do that, they have to gain the confidence of other countries," said Biden.

"And as long as they’re engaged in activity that is contrary to basic human rights, it’s going to be hard for them to do that," he added.

A 2018 Human Rights Watch report detailed a Chinese government campaign of "mass arbitrary detention, torture, forced political indoctrination, and mass surveillance of Xinjiang's Muslims."

China, however, has repeatedly denied allegations that it is operating detention camps in its northwestern autonomous region, claiming instead that they are "re-educating" Uighurs.

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