Trump Signs Bill Rebuking China Over Muslims After Virus Insults

President Donald Trump signed a measure punishing Chinese officials for imprisoning more than one million Muslims on the same day a new book alleged Trump encouraged Beijing to build internment camps to house them.

The legislation — signed by Trump on Wednesday after winning broad bipartisan support in Congress — requires Trump to sanction any officials found responsible for oppression of Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups and revoke their visas.

Signing the bill, which has prompted threats of retaliation from Beijing, marks a shift for Trump, who has been reluctant in the past to act against China over human rights.

Also on Wednesday, excerpts from the book by Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton were published, saying Trump had told Chinese President Xi Jinping in June 2019 that he should go ahead with building camps in Xinjiang province to hold the Uighur people, a minority ethnic group who are mostly Muslim, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The measure continues an escalation of tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The Trump administration has faulted China over the spread of the coronavirus and over the country’s move to pass national security legislation expected to curb freedoms in Hong Kong.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the legislation “sends a clear message to the government of China that we are well aware” of abuse Uighurs have suffered.

Trump and China have traded insults and blame for the coronavirus pandemic, which began in the Chinese province of Hubei. But the illness has killed more than 117,000 Americans, far more deaths than China has reported, and Trump has sought to shift blame to Beijing as he his administration’s handling of the crisis has come under intense criticism.

The human rights measure passed the House last month on a vote of 413-1 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent. It condemns the internment of Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region of China. The legislation calls for closing the camps where they are being held.

China has said it’s fighting separatism and religious extremism among Uighurs.

Before the pandemic, Trump had been loath to denounce China in order to preserve his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his trade deal with the country. Trump, for example, only offered lukewarm support for pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong last year as the deal was being negotiated.

— With assistance by Daniel Flatley

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