US Congress to Force President Trump to Take active stand against China
The US congress are making moves to try to force President Donald Trump to take a more active stand on human rights in China by preparing a veto-proof legislation that would punish top Chinese officials, according to reporters from the Times Newspaper of New York.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida claims that “There’s been a sense by some that the administration hasn’t prioritized human rights in its broader foreign policy. “I don’t think that’s necessarily accurate — but that sense has grown. There’s been a sense that Congress needs to step up.” Although the US Vice President, Mike Pence and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo have criticized China on the persecution of Muslims, President Trump who is known to be vocal on issues, has said nothing.
In 2014, Chinese government began a repression on the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. So far, more than one million Uighurs Muslims are being held in camps which governments claim are ‘re-education camps’. In November, a leaked document provided information on how the government run the camp. As contained in the documents, the camps located in Xinjiang, which are estimated to have cost $2.96 Billion in construction, have cameras which monitor movements and conversations. Inmates are said to be tortured during interrogations and there are reports of sexual abuses on women.
It is also reported that in addition to the physical and verbal abuse on inmates by the guards, inmates are required to “sing hymns praising the Chinese Communist Party and write ‘self-criticism’ essays”.
At first, the Chinese Government had denied the existence of the camps. But in October 2018, officials started calling the camps centres for “vocational education and training programs.” In March 2019, the official name of the camps became “vocational training centers,” which according to Government officials, provide job skills to “trainees” who are voluntarily admitted and allowed to leave the camps.
