Just recently, the US Congress had caused a lot of trouble in Beijing with a resolution on Hong Kong. Now at least the US House of Representatives is reloading.
With only one vote against, the House passed a bill to support the human rights situation of the Uighurs in northwestern China. The law seeks to sanction Chinese officials responsible for suppressing the Muslim community.
In addition, the bill passed on Tuesday evening (local time) calls on the government to sanction authorities and companies responsible for the detention of Uyghurs or their forced labor obligations.
Several US government agencies are required by law to provide Parliament with regular progress reports on the situation of the Uighurs in China's northwestern Xinjiang province.
China protested immediately and sharply against the proposed legislation. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying spoke on Wednesday in Beijing about "interference in internal affairs." The plans denigrated China's efforts in the fight against terrorism. In the affected region of Xinjiang, it is not about human rights or religion, but the fight against terrorism and separatism.
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The Senate unanimously passed a similar bill in September. The Senate now has to revisit the House of Representatives before the bill can be sent to President Donald Trump for signature. Trump could veto the law, but could be outvoted by Congress by a two-thirds majority.
Around one million people are suspected in the camps
Just last week, Trump signed a Congress-sponsored law to strengthen the democracy movement in Hong Kong. China reacted angrily and threatened countermeasures. Experts believe that the new tensions also make it difficult to conclude a trade agreement between the two largest economies.
The US government estimates that around a million Uighurs are detained against their will, mostly in internment camps. Human rights activists speak of reeducation camps, in which Uighurs are to be sworn in with some brutal means on the line of the Chinese Communist Party.
Uighurs are ethnically related to the Turks and feel oppressed by the ruling Han Chinese. After their takeover in Beijing in 1949, the Communists had incorporated the former East Turkestan China. Beijing accuses Uyghur groups of terrorism.
