U.S. accuses China of Uighur genocide

China has imprisoned more than 1 million people in its campaign against ethnic and religious minorities, according to U.S. officials and human rights organizations. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing has committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its repression of Uighur Muslims in the northwestern Xinjiang province.

Will anything change now? The announcement came a day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden hasn’t responded, but he and members of his national security team have expressed support for the idea in the past. The designation doesn’t involve any immediate changes but could affect future policy. The United States has already imposed sanctions on many of the Chinese officials accused of oppressing Uighurs, and the Trump administration announced plans to stop imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang last week.

Dig deeper: Read June Cheng’s report about China’s systematic cultural genocide against Uighurs.