US Congress approves law providing for sanctions against China.
The United States Congress has passed a law aimed at holding China accountable for alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur ethnic group and other Muslim minority groups in the country.
Sputnik - The House of Representatives adopted the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 on Wednesday (27) with a vote of 413 in favor and only one against.
The legislation, which includes provisions for sanctions against China, now depends on the approval of US President Donald Trump to take effect. The law was unanimously approved by the US Senate on May 14.
The bill condemns alleged human rights violations against Uyghur Turkic Muslims in the Chinese region of Xinjiang and calls for an end to arbitrary detention and harassment against these communities both inside and outside of China.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He during a ceremony to sign a trade agreement between the two countries at the White House.
China has been criticized for allegedly holding up to one million ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in "re-education camps" under the pretext of combating terrorism and religious extremism.
Beijing has repeatedly denied the existence of "re-education camps" within its territory and maintains that the country is fully complying with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.