US Congress passes Uyghur bill; China threatens possible retaliation

The US Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill seeking a tough response from the Trump Administration over reports of mass detention centres in China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, prompting Beijing to threaten possible retaliation.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which among other things, proposes that America redirects resources to address the mass internment of over 1,000,000 Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in China.

The Act, which calls for an end to the detaining, torture and harassment of the Uyghur communities in China, was passed by the Senate earlier.

By passing this bill, Congress is showing that the US will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the oppressed, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said.

"As with the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights Act, we are sending a simple but powerful message to the Communist Party: power cannot be maintained at the expense of the rights of the people without substantial consequences," he said.

Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the bill is an important step in countering the totalitarian Chinese government's widespread and horrific human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Among these include the mass internment of more than one million Uyghurs and other predominantly ethnic Turkic Muslims, as well as Beijing's intimidation and threats against US citizens and legal permanent residents on American soil.

In Beijing, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Wednesday issued a statement, expressing strong indignation over and firm opposition to the passing of the bill by the US Congress, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The US Congress passed the so-called 'Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019', "maliciously attacking the human rights conditions in Xinjiang, slandering China's de-radicalization and anti-terrorism efforts, making groundless accusations against the Chinese government's Xinjiang policies and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs, said the statement.

"Facts have proved that the measures taken by the Chinese side are effective, and security situation has improved markedly in Xinjiang where there have been no violent, terrorist incidents in the past three years," it said, justifying the "vocational education and training centres" in Xinjiang.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the US Congressmen were making "unwarranted accusations and totally untrue facts."
Asked if the US move would have an impact on trade talks, Hua did not directly answer the question. But she said there was "no way this can have no effect on China-US relations as well as the two countries' cooperation in important areas."