The Trump administration has determined that China has committed "genocide and crimes against humanity" by repressing Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday, in an embarrassing blow to Beijing a day before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office.
Pompeo said he made the move — which is certain to further strain already frayed ties between the world's top economies — "after careful examination of the available facts," accusing the Chinese Communist Party of crimes against humanity targeting the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since at least March 2017.
"I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state," Pompeo said in a statement.