US to sanction Chinese officials over crackdown against Uighur Muslims
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WASHINGTON - A senior US official says the United States would pursue sanctions on Chinese officials involved in a sweeping security crackdown in the western region of Xinjiang if they were deemed appropriate for designation under a law targeting human rights offenders.
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Laura Stone said Wednesday that the US was deeply concerned about China’s detention of at least “tens of thousands” of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims and could take action under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act.
Beijing has defended its crackdown as a “People’s War on Terror” and a necessary move to purge separatist and religious extremist elements from Xinjiang, a vast region with more than 10 million Muslims. But an extrajudicial detention program has swept up many people, including relatives of American citizens, on ostensible offenses ranging from accessing foreign websites to contacting overseas relatives.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Stone said the US was particularly concerned about the detained family members of six journalists — four US citizens and two US permanent residents who have reported on Xinjiang — working for Washington DC-based Radio Free Asia.
“The information we have, including about detention centers, paints a disturbing picture,” Stone said. “We will continue to raise our concerns with the Chinese government and call for legal due process in the detention of any citizens.”
Xinjiang authorities have established a network of detention centers operating seemingly without legal basis. Rights groups estimate such centers are holding at least tens of thousands of people who receive so-called political education for indefinite periods. It is just one element in a far-reaching security regime credited to Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party official previously placed in charge of Tibet. Other aspects of the campaign include all-encompassing digital surveillance , mass deployment of police and severe regulations against religious customs and dress.
