Uighur Genocide Officially Accused by State Dept

 Uighur Genocide

The US State Department officially accused China of crimes against humanity and genocide in its treatment of its Muslim minority Uighur population. The determination, the harshest international criticism of Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities to date, has little immediate impact but may open the door to new punitive measures.  

More than 12 million Uighurs live in China's western Xinjiang province, whose Turkic ethnicity is more closely aligned with Central Asia. Critics say Beijing has long exerted repressive measures over the group in an attempt to force adherence to Communist Party doctrine—efforts officials frame as combating terrorism. Since 2017, reports have emerged of forced sterilization, forced labor, torture, and reeducation camps where up to 1 million people may be indefinitely detained. Population control measures have caused Uighur birth rates to drop by more than a third since 2010.

See a history of China's discrimination against the group here.