China slams US sanction on Uighur Muslims, calls politicians 'ignorant and hypocritical'

China slammed the United States on December 4 for sanctioning the Uighur Act of 2019 which requires US President Donald Trump to toughen its response to Xinjiang where more than a million Muslims are reportedly being held for 're-education'. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called the US politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi as 'ignorant & hypocritical' for talking about 'conscience'. The authorities yet again reassured that the ethnic minorities in China 'enjoy equal rights and freedom and culture'. 

China condemns both bills passed by US

The Chinese official also clarified that whatever happens in Xinjiang is the country's way to 'combat terrorism and separatism' and denied the accusations that Beijing was harassing families of Uighur Muslims. The Spokesperson of the Chinese ministry called out Washington for its 'double standards'. China also believes that passing of the Uighur Bill along with the one supporting the anti-government demonstrations in the former British colony, US will 'mess up' Hong Kong and Xinjiang in a similar manner the country intervened in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. China has also expressed its anger with the US House of Representatives passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act last week.

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The Uighur Human Rights Policy Act signed by US leader condemns the detention of Uighur Muslims in China’s far west region, which is home to several Muslim groups. The bill would require the Trump administration to evaluate whether to impose more sanctions on Chinese goods or not to impose repressive policies. The US-China trade deal also suffers because of the recent bill and experts believe that these escalations can jeopardize the phase-one deal of the trade agreement between the US and China, which has already suffered disagreements and complications.

Read - Trump Comments, Uighur Bill Could Affect US-China Trade Deal

China took countermeasures when Trump signed the Hong Kong act into law on November 28 which would require a yearly review of whether the city is sufficiently autonomous from Beijing in order to justify the special trading status. Beijing not only criticised US legislation but also said that it would no longer allow the US navy ships to visit Hong Kong. Furthermore, Beijing also pledged to impose sanctions on four US-based non-governmental organisations including the Human Rights Watch and Freedom House because Washington stood in the violent protests in Hong Kong. 

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Read - US Congress Condemns China For Crackdown On Ethnic Muslims