Uyghur activist urges Biden to take concrete steps to stop China from committing genocide

An exiled Uyghur activist has urged US President Joe Biden to take concrete steps against China in order to prevent it from committing genocide in the northern mountains of Xinjiang. Tahir Imin, who recently spoke to the New York Post, said criticising the Communist regime is not enough, adding any country that believes China is committing “genocide”, should stop doing business with it. Imin, who had faced the Chinese oppression first hand, suggested the US boycott the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics. 

Need a coalition against China

Imin said that the United States should form an “international coalition” with its allies to stop China from committing “genocide” against Uyghurs. Imin said just one country alone cannot stop China from doing what it is doing in Xinjiang. Imin was detained for two years in 2005 by the Chinese communist regime for his activism. Upon his release, Imin started focusing on his business but still remained influential among people in the region.

After the Chinese government increased the crackdown on Uyghurs following the 2014 knife attack, Imin’s friends advised him to leave the country. In 2017, Imin left China for Israel, where after studying for a year he settled in the United States. Many of Imin’s own family members are currently under detention in China, including his brother and mother. Imin couldn’t take his family to Israel because his wife was working with the government at the time and her passport was with them. 

The Chinese government calls Imin a fugitive and a terrorist and his own daughter believes he betrayed his country. However, Imin is now focused on his activism against China’s oppressing actions in Xinjiang. Imin believes if the world fails to take any action against China, the Uyghur community will disappear. He said Uyghurs are on the verge of “extinction”. 

A new report, investigating whether China is in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention under international law, concluded the Communist regime to be responsible for committing genocide against the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang province. The report said that China is committing “serious and systematic atrocities” in the Xinjiang province against Uyghurs, including force serialization to “break their lineage”.

(With inputs from ANI)