US NSA says 'something close to' genocide taking place in China's Xinjiang

The United States (US) national security adviser on October 16 said that China is carrying out “something close to” genocide with its treatment of Muslims in its Xinjiang region. While speaking at a webinar hosted by Aspen Insitute, Robert O’Brien highlighted crackdowns by the Chinese government including the one in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and China’s far northwest area. O’Brien was one of the speakers at the online event on ‘President Trump’s National Security Agenda’ on Friday.

“If not a genocide, something close to it going on in Xinjiang," Robert O'Brien told the online event.

The US national security adviser’s remarks came as Washington has repeatedly denouncing Beijing over its treatment of Uighur and other minority Muslims in Xinjiang. The United States has even sanctioned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials after accusing them of abusing human rights. However, the US has not yet termed it as ‘genocide’ because it would trigger prominent legal implications such as stringent action against China. 

The United Nations (UN) has estimated that there are nearly one million Muslims who have been detained in the Asian country’s remote region. Meanwhile, activists claim that several human rights violations are taking place in Xinjiang. But, China has categorically denied all allegations and claims that the camps in the area are set up to provide ‘vocational training’ to tackle extremism. O’Brien had referred to the seizures made by the US customs of “massive numbers” of hair products made with human hair from Xinjiang. 

"The Chinese are literally shaving the heads of Uighur women and making hair products and sending them to the United States," he said.

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US customs on Xinjiang shipment

As per reports, earlier in June the US Customs and Border Protection said that it had detained a shipment originating in Xinjiang of hair products as well as accessories that are suspected of being forced-labour products made with human hair. Last month, China lashed out at the passage of a bill by the US House of Representatives that threatens sanctions over the alleged use of forced labour. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin not only dismissed the accusations as “lie” but said that the US bill “maliciously slandered the human rights situation in Xinjiang” and curbed the development. 

“The so-called problem of forced labour is totally a lie fabricated by some organizations and personnel in the United States and the West,” Wang as quoted by AP. 

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(With AP inputs)