Blinken says genocide in Xinjiang is ongoing in report ahead of China visit

WASHINGTON — Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday (April 22), ahead of his planned visit to China this week.

The State Department's annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top US diplomat and Chinese counterparts.

In a preface, Blinken said the report "documents ongoing grave human rights abuses in the People's Republic of China (PRC)."

"For example, in Xinjiang, the PRC continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labour, and other human rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups," Blinken said in the preface.

The section of Monday's report on China details the detention of more than one million people in camps and prisons and the use of re-education camps in Xinjiang, among other abuses committed against the broader Chinese population.

China has vigorously denied abuses in Xinjiang and says it established "vocational training centres" to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism.

Blinken when he took office in 2021 endorsed a determination by his predecessor that China's actions amounted to genocide, and he has raised the issue in meetings with Chinese officials.

The annual human rights report has in recent years echoed that position and said the genocide is ongoing, but Xinjiang has featured less prominently in direct contacts between US and Chinese officials.

A senior State Department official briefing reporters on Friday on Blinken's trip said human rights would be among the issues raised by Blinken with Chinese officials, but did not mention the situation in Xinjiang.

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