The U.S. China Policy to Xinjiang, Sanction is a Viable Approach against Genocide

Author: Baosheng Guo (a Chinese dissident and commentator in the U.S.)

7/24/2021

From Trump to the Biden administration, one of the key issues in the U.S. China policies is the issue of Xinjiang is also called East Turkestan. Since July 2009, the Chinese government has implemented cruel suppression for Uyghur and other minority nations in Xinjiang. China’s government even built up more concentration camps (China officially called Xinjiang Vocational Education and Training Centers) to imprisoned and totally alteration two million people. The U.S. government certificate the Chinese government's brute is genocide, and constantly sanction China and Xinjiang’s local government, company, and persons. This is the correct foreign policy to China because China’s government certainly made the genocide that is intolerance crime. The U.S.’s sanction also led to China assuming responsibility and changing its behavior. The U.S. can also strengthen its soft power if the U.S. sanction the genocide under international law.

This is a correct foreign policy that the U.S. as the first state had officially designated the crimes against the Uyghurs as a genocide. On January 19, 2021, former Secretary of state Mike Pompeo had announced a statement to accuses China of imprisoning, torturing, and genocide against the Uyghurs. He said, "I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state” [1]. After the U.S, followed by passing non-binding motions recognizing China's actions as genocide, including Canada's House of Commons, the Dutch parliament, the United Kingdom's House of Commons, and the Seimas of Lithuania. The genocide is not a light crime, so the U.S and alliance common action seriously denounced and warned the CCP’s brute as Nazi Germany during World War Two.

According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the CCP’S crimes is in line with the definition of genocide, article 2 of the Convention defines genocide as,”... any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; ...(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group......[2]. The crime that is happening in Xinjiang is suitable with genocide, such as force millions of people to the concentration camps, killed people in camps, forced labor, suppression of Islam religious practices, forced abortion, and hundreds of thousands of children have been forcibly separated from their parents and sent to boarding schools...... Under international law and international responsibility, the U.S. confirmed and declared the genocide, this policy dealt a heavy blow to the CCP’s autocratic hegemony and made the international community realize that the CCP has become like the Nazis.

Also, the U.S. constantly impose the sanction to China because of genocide. There are six sanctions so far, as follows:

In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security blocked imports of products from five entities in Xinjiang to combat the use of forced labor.

In October 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce included the Xinjiang Public Security Department and 8 Chinese companies on the list of regulated entities.

In July 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in accordance with Executive Order No. 13818 signed by President Trump in accordance with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in December 2017, gave four leaders in Xinjiang imposes sanctions.

On July 20, 2020, the United States again imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese companies, of which 9 were accused of forced labor, and the remaining 2 companies were accused of assisting in the collection and analysis of the DNA of Muslim minorities.

In March 2021，U.S. and Its Allies Sanction China Over Treatment of Uyghurs in a Collective Action. The U.S has sanctioned four Chinese officials in Xinjiang. [3]

On July 9, 2021, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce put 14 Xinjiang companies on the list of export control entities for assisting the government in persecuting human rights.

The sanction is the usual approach to let violators assume responsibility in international law. Like reprisal, the international community needs to prohibit abuse and protect justice through punishment. It is not useful to persuade the violators to amend their actions only through talk and negotiation. On July 23, 2020, Mike Pompeo made a well-known speech named “Communist China and the Free World’s Future”, he said,” We must admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century and not the Chinese century of which Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simply won’t get it done. We must not continue it and we must not return to it,” “We, the freedom-loving nations of the world, must induce China to change...... We must induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways”, “Our Departments of Treasury and Commerce have thus sanctioned and blacklisted Chinese leaders and entities that are harming and abusing the most basic rights for people all across the world”.[4] In this speech, Pompeo declared the end of the policy of engagement with China and start a new China policy through sanctions, containment, inducing China to change. President Biden's administration has inherited most of Pompeo’s China policy because they both knew the sanction are effective tools for China [5].

At last, the U.S. China policy to Xinjiang, especially the sanction, is beneficial for the U.S. soft power. Human rights diplomacy is the U.S. tradition. As human rights diplomacy’s founder, president Carter clearly defined the foundation of his foreign policy: “Our policy is based on a historical vision of America’s role. Our policy is derived from a larger view of global change. Our policy is rooted in our moral values, which never change......Our policy is designed to serve humankind.” [6] During his presidency, the first volume of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices covered the year 1976 and was released in 1977. The U.S. must concern and improve human rights in all countries, in this way, the U.S. can receive moral influence and value attractive in the globe. Obviously, concern and sanction genocide in Xinjiang can improve the U.S. international status and soft power in the world.

The Genocide in Xinjiang is continuing now, the U.S. should constantly impose sanctions on China, only in this way, the CCP’s brutality could be terminated, and millions of Uyghurs and other minorities could be liberated. Meanwhile, the U.S. can maintain the international influence and leadership of the shining city on the hill if keeping sanctions.

Citation

[1] Gordon, M. R., & Xiao, E. (2021, January 20). U.S. Says China Is Committing Genocide Against Uighur Muslims. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-declares-chinas-treatment-of-uighur-muslims-to-be-genocide-11611081555

[2] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3ac0.html

[3] Talley, I., & Norman, L. (2021, March 22). U.S. and Its Allies Sanction China Over Treatment of Uyghurs in a Collective Action. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-and-its-allies-sanction-china-over-treatment-of-uyghurs-in-collective-action-11616440582

[4] U.S. Department of State. (2020, December 1). Communist China and the Free World's Future - United States Department of State. U.S. Department of State. https://2017-2021.state.gov/communist-china-and-the-free-worlds-future/index.html

[5] Jordan Brunner, & Emily Weinstein. (2021, June 22). The Strategic and Legal Implications of Biden's New China Sanctions. Lawfare. https://www.lawfareblog.com/strategic-and-legal-implications-bidens-new-china-sanctions

[6] U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Carter's Foreign Policy. U.S. Department of State. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/carter