‘Genocide’: Trump administration’s brutal final call on China

Just moments before Donald Trump leaves the White House, his administration has issued a damning statement on the nation he has feuded with.

As Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office comes to an end, his administration has issued a final damning statement on a nation that he has feuded with for the past four years.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared that China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in its treatment of the Uighurs and other minority ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group native to the supposedly autonomous region, situated in China’s northwest.

The Chinese government has been systematically targeting them and incarcerating them en masse in facilities it describes as “vocational training centres”.

But it has long been reported that the centres are in fact concentration camps where torture and other human rights abuses are rife. More than a million Uighurs are believed to have been incarcerated.

“After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined that the People’s Republic of China, under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang,” Mr Pompeo said.

“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party state.

I have determined that the People’s Republic of China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, China, targeting Uyghur Muslims and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 19, 2021

“The governing authorities of the second-most economically, militarily and politically powerful country on Earth have made clear that they are engaged in the forced assimilation and eventual erasure of a vulnerable ethnic and religious minority group, even as they simultaneously assert their country as a global leader.”

On Tuesday, president-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the US Treasury, Janet Yellen, signalled there would be no let-up in Washington’s efforts to combat what she called, “China’s abusive, unfair and illegal practices”.

The comments reflect an unusual area of common ground with outgoing President Trump, who during his term unleashed on China an aggressive and costly trade war that imposed billions of dollars in punitive tariffs.

But Ms Yellen drew a line under key areas of difference, especially the Biden administration’s commitment to work with US allies rather than going it alone, and to promote investments to make American firms and workers more competitive against Beijing.

Responding to questions from the Senate Finance Committee at her Tuesday confirmation hearing, she called China “our most important strategic competitor”.

She accused Beijing of “undercutting American companies” with a series of policies, including illegal subsidies, dumping of products, theft of intellectual property and barriers to US goods.

“We need to take on China’s abusive unfair and illegal practices,” she said, adding, “we’re prepared to use the full array of tools” to address those issues.

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This photo shows a facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained in Artux, north of Kashgar in China’s western Xinjiang region. Picture: Greg Baker/AFP

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She also vowed to be watchful of the national security concerns over China’s theft of “trade secrets” and “illegal efforts to acquire critical technology”.

However, unlike Mr Trump, who pulled back from multilateral organisations and attacked the trade policies of US partners and adversaries alike, Ms Yellen stressed that it will be important “to work with our allies” to combat the challenge posed by China.

On the exodus of jobs and manufacturing from the US to China, she said America needs to “make investments that allow us to compete with China … by investing in our infrastructure, investing in our people and creating a more competitive economy.”

Once in office, Mr Biden is expected to propose a stimulus plan that includes massive infrastructure investments.

Mr Trump, like other administrations before him, also accused China of keeping its currency artificially low as a way to make its products cheaper and gain a trade advantage, and Ms Yellen repeated the opposition to that practice.

The US dollar “should be determined by markets,” she said. “If confirmed, I will work to implement the president-elect’s promise to oppose any and all attempts by foreign countries to artificially manipulate currency values to gain an unfair advantage in trade.”

She also told senators that global digital tax negotiations under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are important for Washington to levy taxes on corporations that have moved their headquarters overseas.

“It would enable us to collect a fair share from corporations, while maintaining the competitiveness of our businesses and diminish the incentives that American companies now have to offshore activities,” she said.