Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a bill into law to punish China over its treatment of its Uyghur citizens on the same day his former national security advisor claimed Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping that he supported their internment camps where some 1 million of the Muslim-minority population have been detained.
The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 overwhelmingly passed both the House and Senate calling for the president to report to Congress within 180 days a list of individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations committed against the Uyghur people in China’s autonomous Xinjiang region for the purpose of sanctioning.
“The act holds accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses, such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labor and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other minorities in China,” Trump said in a statement after he signed the bill into law.
Trump notes that the law permits him to withhold imposing sanctions if he determines it is in the best interest of the nation.
