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"It
is time for action," members of the Senate and House of
Representatives, led by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, wrote
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin, asking them to sanction the Chinese officials
responsible for the mistreatment of Uighurs.
"These human rights abuses demand a response from the United
States as well as the international community because evidence
strongly indicates that the Chinese government is intentionally
working to destroy and essentially wipe out Uyghur families,
culture, and religious adherence and encouraging violence
against women," said the letter, seen by Reuters.
The group also asked the administration to work with allies and
partners to hold a Security Council meeting at the United
Nations to appoint a special rapporteur to look into the
situation in Xinjiang province.
The United States and China have been at loggerheads for months
over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing's
imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong. It is also
ramping up pressure on China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs in
Xinjiang.
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims
have been detained in camps there. China has denied mistreatment
and says the camps provide vocational training and help fight
extremism.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed a bill, which Congress
passed with only one "no" vote, calling for sanctions over the
repression of Uighurs. The legislation for the first time calls
for sanctions on a member of China's powerful Politburo,
Xinjiang's Communist Party secretary, Chen Quanguo, as
responsible for "gross human rights violations."
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; writing by Humeyra Pamuk;
editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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