The Donald Trump administration has started imposing Visa ban on the Chinese officials who are involved in the mass detention and repression of Uighur Muslims and other minority Muslim groups in China and especially, in Xinjiang. This is the latest step in the string of steps being taken by the United States of America (USA) in what Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has called “the stain of the century.”
According to the USA State Department, there is a Visa ban on those government officials and members of the Communist Party of China who was directly or indirectly involved in the abuse of Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs and other minority Muslim groups in the far western region of Xinjiang.
“The Chinese government has instituted a highly repressive campaign against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of Muslim minority groups,” Pompeo said in a statement Tuesday. “The United States calls on the People’s Republic of China to immediately end its campaign of repression in Xinjiang.”
According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, the State Department has the authority to deny Visa to any individual, whose entry into the United States of America would have a negative impact on the foreign policy of the USA. While the list of names cannot be revealed by the authorities, they have confirmed that the names have been added.
China has not responded kindly to the USA imposing Visa restrictions. The Chinese Embassy in the United States of America took to Twitter to express its strong opposition to the steps taken by the USA.
In a series of tweets, the Chinese Embassy said that China does not have the human rights problem that the USA is claiming. In fact, it went a step further and said that the USA is making these claims up so it can use them as a pretext for justifying its interference with internal matters of China.
https://twitter.com/ChineseEmbinUS/status/1181686849963790336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Interestingly, China even defended its action against Uighur Muslims. China said, “The counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang are aimed to eradicate the breeding soil of extremism and terrorism. They are in line with Chinese laws and international practices, and are supported by all 25 million people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang”.
https://twitter.com/ChineseEmbinUS/status/1181686851725344768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
China has been involved in mass detention of its Uighur Muslim population. In these detention camps, Muslims are ‘de-radicalised’. They are forced to eat pork and abandon every religious symbol. The Uighur Muslims are not even allowed to keep bears or wear their skull caps.