On this archival photo taken on April 16, 2015, Uyghur men are praying at a mosque in Hotan, Xinjiang Region, in western China.(Photo: GREG BAKER)

WASHINGTON – International pressure is mounting for China to end its internment of Chinese Uighurs. Members of the House and Senate have adopted this week a new bill calling for the end of the policy on abuse of the Muslim minority.

China's crackdown on nearly one million Uighurs and its efforts to "re-educate" ethnic Turkish Muslims in Xinjiang Province have been labeled "flagrant and egregious violations of human rights" in a law introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Presented to the Senate on Wednesday. Representative Chris Smith, R-N.J. introduced a similar bill in the House. Rubio and Smith are Co-Chairs of the Congressional Executive Committee on China.

The law requires the State Department to consider targeted sanctions for individuals responsible for alleged human rights violations in China. He also asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to present an inter-agency report on the number of detainees held in the camps, the conditions of detention and the number of people arbitrarily detained, among other things.

Rubio and Smith's calls for sanctions come two months after instigating the Trump administration in September to punish the Chinese government, as well as any private company implicated in human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They said the Chinese government had created a "high-tech police state" in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, which allowed widespread and intrusive espionage of its citizens.

"The United States must hold the Chinese Communist Government and Party responsible for gross violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity responsible, including internment in "Political re-education" of a million Uighur and other predominantly Muslim minorities, "Rubio said in a statement Wednesday.

This photo taken on September 17, 2014 shows young Uyghurs resting near the Grand Bazaar in Urumqi. Xinjiang is home to about 10 million members of China's Uighur Muslim minority. (Photo: AFP, Getty Images)

Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a prominent member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, described China's treatment of its Muslim minority as "beyondabhorrent "and called for the action of President Donald Trump.

"The president must have a clear and consistent approach to China and not turn a blind eye when a million Muslims are unjustly imprisoned and forced into forced labor camps by an autocratic regime" said Menendez in a statement.

A spokesman for the US State Department said the agency could not comment on investigations of possible sanctions, but that it was considering "targeted measures against Xinjiang officials."

"We remain alarmed by the fact that since April 2017, the Chinese government has arrested between 800,000 and perhaps more than two million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in political re-education camps," the spokesman said. a statement.

"The United States will continue to call on China to end these counterproductive policies and release all arbitrary detainees. The secretary raised this issue, in no uncertain terms, alongside his Chinese counterpart during the diplomatic and security talks held on 9 November. "

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Previously, he had raised the issue of the persecution of Muslims in China during a speech delivered in front of religious conservatives and in an editorial published in the United States, today, in July, but it is not the same. did not specify what other actions the State Department could take against China.

At a press conference held on November 9 in Washington with Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, Pompeo said that he had discussed with his Chinese counterparts about how "we hope the Chinese will treat their religious minorities".

At a press conference on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused legislators of being "too obsessed to meddle in the internal affairs of others" and accused the US of United States of "systematic racial discrimination" among its own minority groups.

"It's really surprising to me that these legislators think they are so superior that they can point the finger at the internal affairs of other countries," she said. "They have extended their arms to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries on the basis of misinformation and strong ideological bias."

On Thursday, Hua again opposed the interference of other countries in China's internal affairs after being questioned about a letter from 15 Western ambassadors to Beijing expressing concerns over alleged human rights violations. man against minority Muslims.

"An ambassador is supposed to promote mutual understanding, mutual trust and cooperation between the host state and the sending state, rather than formulating unreasonable demands and s & # 39; 39; interfere in the domestic affairs of the host state on the basis of hearsay, "said Hua.

Reuters reported Thursday that the letter had been signed by ambassadors from Canada, Britain, France, Switzerland, the European Union, Germany and the United States. Australia, among others.

More: The tiny Chinese Muslim community provokes a giant anti-Islam reaction

More: Amnesty International calls on China to end its campaign that forces mainly Muslims to "re-education camps"

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