The US has announced sanctions against Chinese politicians it says are responsible for 'horrific' abuses against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
The United States on Thursday took its first major action to stop"horrific" abuses against China's Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, slapping sanctions on several senior officials.
"The United States will not stand idly by as the CCP carries out human rights abuses targeting Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang," Mr Pompeo said in a statement. The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the security bureau as an institution, pointing to its sweeping digital surveillance of Uighurs and other minorities.Witnesses and human rights groups say that China has rounded up more than one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang in a vast brainwashing campaign aimed at forcibly homogenising minorities into the country's Han majority.
The Uighur Human Rights Project, an advocacy group, hailed the sanctions and urged other countries to follow suit. Mr Pompeo in recent weeks has also announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials over the treatment of Tibet and Beijing's clampdown in Hong Kong - but, in contrast, did not publicly name anyone affected.Olivia Enos, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation who studies human rights, doubted that Beijing would suddenly reverse course in Xinjiang.
"It is important to remember that Treasury has authority over all dollar-dominated currency transactions," she said."So it is significant."
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
US will restrict visas for Chinese officials over Tibet, Pompeo saysSecretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US will restrict visas for some Chinese officials because of human rights abuses in Tibet.
Read more »
Russian bounties not behind US deaths in Afghanistan, top general saysThe head of US Central Command reviews intelligence indicating Russia possibly pays bounties to Taliban-linked militants but says there is not enough there to make a connection to claims of payments for killings.
Read more »
China's 'Fox Hunt' targets US-based critics with threats, FBI saysThe director of the FBI says Chinese President Xi Jinping is behind a plot to force critics to return to China with agents being sent to threaten families overseas.
Read more »
Trump officially withdraws US from WHO | Sky News AustraliaPresident Donald Trump has formally withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organisation.\n\nThe President announced his intention more than a month ago after criticising the organisation's response to the coronavirus pandemic.\n\nFunding was frozen in April while the Administration reviewed the relationship.\n\nA Senior Administration official confirmed Congress received notification of the withdrawal.\n\nThe US remains the worst-affected nation with almost three million cases of coronavirus. \n\nThe process of withdrawal is set to take a year.\n\nImage: AP
Read more »
US to leave World Health Organisation next JulyUS President Donald Trump quits another UN organisation but the decision could be reversed and is not due to take effect until the US pays its outstanding bill to the WHO.
Read more »
Young girl tragically killed amid escalating US gun-violence | Sky News AustraliaA tragic story has emerged amid the weeks of protests, riots, violence and lawlessness that continues “under the guise of Black Lives Matter,” according to Sky News host Chris Kenny. \n\nWidespread Black Lives Matter protests have taken place across America following the tragic killing of unarmed African-American man George Floyd while in police custody. \n\nSecoriea Turner was an 8-year-old girl who had been shot, according to authorities, by activists as her family tried to turn their car away from protests in the city. \n\nIt comes as a number of children had been killed in America as gun violence escalates amid heightened anger. \n\n“What a sad and tragic waste,” Mr Kenny said. \n\n“It should remind all of America and the world that lives matter.\n\n“Little lives matter.\n\n“Law and order matters”. \n
Read more »