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Antony Blinken highlights China’s Uygurs as victims of ‘genocide’ at US human rights report launch
- America’s top diplomat pledges to keep raising atrocities with responsible governments days before he is expected to meet senior officials in Beijing
- ‘Countries that respect human rights are more likely to be peaceful, prosperous, stable,’ says Blinken
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Bochen Hanin Washington
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted Uygurs in China’s Xinjiang region as victims of “genocide and crimes against humanity” while launching the State Department’s annual human rights report on Monday, days before he is expected to meet senior officials in Beijing.
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Calling such atrocities and those occurring in Myanmar and Sudan “reminiscent of humanity’s darkest moments,” Blinken pledged to keep raising them directly with the governments responsible.
“Countries that respect human rights are more likely to be peaceful, prosperous, stable,” America’s top diplomat said.
The State Department report, which assesses some 200 countries and territories based on standards enshrined in international human-rights agreements, contained an extensive catalogue of China’s alleged violations, as it has for several decades.
China, the report’s preface stated, “continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labour and other human-rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uygurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups”.
Blinken’s remarks come ahead of his trip to Beijing and Shanghai later this week, where he plans to raise the US’s concerns over China’s human rights record, its “unfair economic and trade practices” and the global consequences of the country’s “industrial overcapacity”.
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