Washington: Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US will speak out forcefully against China committing “genocide” against the Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang province, as several lawmakers expressed concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the communist nation, ahead of the first face-to-face meeting of top American and Chinese officials next week since President Joe Biden took office.
The White House and State Department said on Wednesday that Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will see China’s top foreign policy officials, the foreign affairs chief of the ruling Communist Party of China, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi on 18 March in Anchorage, Alaska.
Blinken told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during a Congressional hearing that the US will continue to speak out forcefully and shine a light on “egregious violations of human rights” by China.
“We have been clear and I’ve been clear that I see it as genocide, other egregious abuses of human rights, and we’ll continue to make that clear,” he said, responding to a question by Congressman Michael McCaul who asked what additional steps is the Biden administration is prepared to take to stop this “genocide”.
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