China criticises new US law that would sanction officials over incarceration of Uighurs

China has lodged a strong protest with the United States after President Donald Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act 2020 making it into law on June 17. China has criticised Washington's decision and the new law that would sanction Chinese officials over human rights abuses against the ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region and said that it will resolutely hit back at the US over the passing of the bill. 

Read: Donald Trump Signs Bill To Punish China For Crackdown On Uighurs & Other Ethnic Minorities

"China strongly deplores the US signing into law of the 'Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020'. We urge the US side to respect China's counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts, stop applying double standards on counter-terrorism issues, and stop using Xinjiang-related issues as a pretext to interfere in China's internal affairs," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement on June 18. 

Read: China Threatens Uighur Muslims Across The Globe, Reveals Damning Leaked Data Report

The bipartisan bill was unanimously passed in Senate without requiring a roll-call vote in mid-May and was then moved to the House of Representatives before the president signed it into law on Wednesday. The bill was reportedly passed by 413-1 vote in the US Congress and it was the first bill in history to pass with proxy votes keeping in mind the coronavirus outbreak. 

Read: US Congress Approves China Sanctions Over Crackdown On Uighurs And Other Ethnic Groups

Uyghur oppression

Several leaked from China have revealed Beijing’s brutal and systematic crackdown on Uyghurs which they allegedly call "struggle against terrorism, infiltration, and separatism". After Uighur militants stabbed more than 150 people at a train station in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a series of speeches delivered to officials, urged the party to follow America’s policy of "war on terror". Since then, an estimated one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been moved to detention camps built by the Chinese government, which they call "re-educational camps". 

Read: US Senate Passes Uighur Rights Bill To Pressure China Amid Worsening Relations