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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The US State Department has expressed deep concern about China's growing crackdown on the Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region, as the Trump government is considering sanctions against Chinese officials and companies. .
Talks have recently picked up speed in the US government over possible economic sanctions in response to reports of mass detentions in the Uighurs and other Muslims region, which have sparked growing international outcry, sources said. US Congress.
The Trump administration against China, with which it is embarking on a large-scale trade war, is seeking help from Beijing to solve the North Korean nuclear weapons problem.
A US official said the idea of sanctions was still in the discussion stage, and one of the sources told Congress that a decision did not appear to be imminent.
"We are deeply troubled by the worsening of the crackdown, not only against the Uyghurs (but also) the Kazakhs, the other Muslims of this region of China," said the spokesman of the Department of Justice. State Heather Nauert at a press conference. .
She acknowledged that the State Department had received a letter in late August from a bipartisan group of US lawmakers asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to impose sanctions on a number of Chinese officials accused of overseeing the policy. Among them, Chen Quanguo, leader of the Communist Party in Xinjiang and a member of the party's political bureau.
According to one of the sources of the Congress, sanctions were also envisaged by legislators against several Chinese companies involved in the construction of detention camps and the creation of surveillance systems used to monitor and monitor the Uyghurs.
"We have a lot of tools at our disposal. But I will not be ahead of the potential activity of the US government, "said Nauert. "We will not preview penalties that may or may not happen."
Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project tweeted Monday a photo of activist Dolkun Isa, president of the Uyghur World Congress, at the White House, commenting, "A meeting with White House officials defenders of rights . "
China on Tuesday urged United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to respect her sovereignty after urging Beijing to allow observers in the troubled Far West region to take action. worry about the situation in this region.
Beijing said Xinjiang was facing a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who are plotting to attack and stir up tension between the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority, which calls the region and the ethnic group. Chinese Han.
Last month, a US human rights panel said it received credible reports that nearly one million ethnic Uighurs could be held in extrajudicial custody in Xinjiang, and called for their release.
"There are credible reports that many, many thousands have been held in detention centers since April 2017, and the numbers are quite significant compared to what we can say so far," he said. declared Nauert.
US sanctions could be imposed under the Magnitsky Global Law, a federal law that allows the US government to target perpetrators of human rights violations around the world with freezes on US assets, bans on travel to the US United States and US trade bans.
Reported by Matt Spetalnick, Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Richard Chang
