House bill condemns Uighur persecution

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday calling for “targeted sanctions” against senior Chinese officials, including the Communist Party’s secretary in the Xinjiang region, Chen Quanguo. The Uighur Human Rights Policy Act would require President Donald Trump to condemn the crackdown in Xinjiang and call for the closure of the detention camps. China is holding as many as 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in so-called reeducation camps.

How has China responded? The bill has further riled China officials following the U.S. condemnation this week of China’s crackdown in Hong Kong. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused the United States of “hypocrisy and malicious intentions,” adding that it “smears our efforts in counterterrorism and de-radicalization.” China has long denied persecuting the Uighurs. The bill still needs approval from the U.S. Senate and the president.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift on how China has organized the reeducation camps.