Pompeo Accuses China of ‘Genocide,’ With Support From Successor
- Top U.S. diplomat cites forced sterilizations in Xinjiang area
- Biden’s nominee to replace Pompeo, Antony Blinken, backs move
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U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo designated China’s crackdown on Uighurs and other minorities in the Xinjiang region as genocide, an escalation in tensions that was quickly endorsed by President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to replace him.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state,” Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday. He said the country’s leaders “have made clear that they are engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group.”