US: China's actions against Uighurs 'stain' of century

WASHINGTON

The Chinese government's actions in Xinjiang predominantly targeting minority the Muslim Uighur population is the human rights "stain of the century," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged again Wednesday.

"It’s imprisoning religious minorities in internment camps – part of its historic antipathy to religious believers," the top diplomat told reporters at the State Department while officially releasing Washington’s annual human rights reports. "It tries to hide what it’s doing by intimidating journalists. Chinese citizens who want a better future are met with violence."

Pompeo first called Beijing's treatment of Uighurs the "stain of the century" in July.

The department's report says in 2019 Chinese government officials and volunteers took part in what are called "home stays," wherein Muslim Uighur families are monitored for signs of "extremism" that include praying, abstaining from alcohol and tobacco, and possession of religious texts.

Those who exhibit the behaviors could be sent to camps, according to the report.

Uighurs were also especially targeted in the Chinese government's expanded use of facial-recognition technology in Xinjiang and beyond.

Those who live outside of China are faced with threats should they speak out against China's policies, according to the report.

"Numerous ethnic Uighurs and Kazakhs living overseas were intimidated into silence by government officials making threats against members of their family who still lived in China, threats sometimes delivered in China to the relatives, and sometimes delivered by Chinese government officials in the foreign country," it says.

UN experts and campaigners say 1 million Uighurs and others, mostly Muslims, have been caged in the far western Xinjiang province in a crackdown that has been criticized by the United States, European nations and others.

China has repeatedly said its camps offer voluntary education and training to help stamp out extremism.