The State Department won’t directly say whether it believes the Chinese government is currently committing genocide against the Uyghurs, condemning allegations of oppression against the Muslim ethnic group and other religious minorities but insisting upon calling it a genocide only in the past tense.
Biden officials contend a genocide “was” occurring and say the administration is “unaware” of the “atrocities” ceasing, but on Tuesday, they repeatedly dodged the specific question of whether there is a continued genocide in Xinjiang. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged China had committed genocide in sworn testimony as a nominee for the top diplomat role, but it remains stubbornly unclear whether the Biden administration will take that stance about the present situation in the western province.
An estimated 1 million to 2 million Uyghurs have been placed in detention centers across the region. Although Chinese officials have denied charges of there being a genocide and defended their “vocational education and training centers” as efforts to combat terrorism, Uyghur survivors have described being insulted, beaten, abused, and raped by guards for their religious beliefs.
After the Trump administration declared the Chinese government’s oppression of the Uyghurs and other religious minorities in Xinjiang was a genocide, Republicans have been eager to hold President Biden to the same standard, arguing his team refuses to take an assertive stance against Beijing.
Ned Price, the top State Department spokesman in the Biden administration, would only say on Monday that the Chinese Communist Party “was” committing genocide and declined multiple opportunities Tuesday to say the United States believes genocide is still taking place.
During Tuesday’s State Department briefing, the Washington Examiner noted former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined “genocide is ongoing” and that, when asked in his Senate confirmation hearing about whether China had conducted genocide against the Uyghurs, Blinken said, “That would be my judgment as well.” The Washington Examiner asked: “What’s at stake in terms of U.S. policy in the difference between the statement ‘this genocide is ongoing’ and ‘genocide was committed’?”
“There’s no difference. The question I was asked yesterday was about Secretary Blinken’s statement in his confirmation hearings. I was referring to that. What I can say is we are unaware that these atrocities have ceased,” Price said, adding that “we have spoken to crimes against humanity … and, as you noted, both Secretary Pompeo and his successor, Secretary Blinken, have arrived at the judgment that genocide has taken place in Xinjiang.”
Blinken is sure to be pressed on the issue when he appears before Congress on Wednesday.
Another reporter informed Price during the press briefing on Tuesday that he seemed to be “convoluting” a simple answer. “Does the administration believe a genocide is ongoing, is continuing, in Xinjiang? Yes or no?” the reporter asked.
Price responded in past tense, saying, “Secretary Blinken has made clear that in his judgment, genocide occurred in Xinjiang.” The reporter said he was looking for a “present tense” response, and Price repeated: “We’re not aware that these atrocities have ceased.” The reporter asked if genocide was “ongoing,” and Price repeated: “We have not seen anything that would change our assessment.”
A State Department spokesperson sent the Washington Examiner a lengthy statement earlier Tuesday with similar language, adding that the U.S. called upon China “to immediately release all arbitrarily detained people and abolish the internment camps; to cease forced sterilizations; to end all torture; and to stop persecuting Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.”
The State Department did not respond to whether the Biden administration specifically believed genocide was still happening, another sign of hesitancy that has opened up the Biden team to barbs by GOP lawmakers who view the response as being soft on China’s government.
“The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “The Biden administration is rushing to embrace China, and I am deeply worried that their refusal to explicitly acknowledge and condemn the ongoing genocide is part of that embrace.”
“While I appreciate Secretary Blinken saying he believes genocide was committed, actions speak louder than words … I am hopeful the administration will soon detail how we plan to hold the CCP accountable for their horrific human rights abuses and genocide,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the panel to which Blinken will testify on Wednesday.
During his Tuesday remarks, Price noted that “there have been additional reports even today detailing allegations what has transpired in Xinjiang.” This was a likely reference to a report by the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, which concluded China bears responsibility for “an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs.”
According to the United Nations Genocide Convention, there are five categories of actions a group can perform “with an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” that would be classified as genocide. These include “killing members of the group,” “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,” “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,” and “forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
Just before leaving office in January, Pompeo said that “we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs.”
A few days after Biden’s inauguration, Emily Horne, a spokeswoman for Biden’s National Security Council, told the Washington Examiner that “President Biden has called the oppression of the Uighurs a genocide.” The NSC did not respond to questions on Monday about whether the president believes the genocide is ongoing.
Blinken said in late January his “judgment remains that genocide was committed against the Uyghurs.”
