US President Joe Biden has said that the US will reassert its global role and will get China to protect human rights, as he voiced concerns about Beijing’s mistreatment of Uighur Muslims and the atrocities they face while being detained in camps in Xinjiang.
Biden, while addressing a town hall hosted by CNN, said that China will pay for its human rights atrocities. Biden added that he would get help from the international community to get China to respect human rights. China’s President Xi Jinping has drawn criticism from world leaders for holding Uighurs in camps he claims are meant for ‘vocational training’.
“China is trying very hard to become a world leader and to get that moniker and be able to do that they have to gain the confidence of other countries,” Biden said. At the town hall event, Biden also said that as the president of the US, he has to speak out about Beijing’s aggression in Hong Kong.
On February 4, there emerged reports of systematic rape of Uighur women being held in the detainment camps. The US-administration had then demanded serious consequences over the heinous acts.
Earlier in February, Biden, on a call to Jinping emphasised the US priority of preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The US has been making it clear, China’s attempts to claim dominance over the South China Sea, international waters as besides China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have been competing claims. China, backing its claims has built islands and naval patrols.
Even as former President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on China and its senior officials over human rights violations, Jinping has denied accusations of abuses in Xinjiang.