President Biden rejects the genocide against the Uighur population in China, calling the mass internment a “different norm” – despite the fact that the State Department this month responded to the “atrocities” in the camps, following reports of systemic rapes and torture.
The commander-in-chief made the remarks after being asked on Tuesday night during his CNN town hall about the recent conversation with his Chinese counterpart, starting the answer by sending Xi’s justification for the abuses.
“If you know anything about China’s history, it has always been, the time when China was victimized by the outside world is when they were not unified at home,” Biden began. “So the central principle – well, much overrated – of Xi Jinping’s central principle is that there must be a united, strictly controlled China. And he uses his reason for the things he does based on that. ”
China, a nation that has faced a wave of international scrutiny in recent years over its activities to dismantle democracy in Hong Kong and its refusal to accept responsibility for negligence and lack of transparency at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, has not let tensions to stop the mass internment of Uighurs in Xinjiang Province.
President Biden continued in his response that he would “not speak out” against the belligerent actions of the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, against the Uighurs or in Taiwan.
“I emphasize that no American president can be supported as president if he does not reflect the values of the United States,” the US president continued. “So the idea that I will not speak out against what he is doing in Hong Kong, what he is doing to the Uighurs in the western mountains of China and Taiwan – trying to end China’s unique policy, making it strong … [Xi] he understands it ”.
“Culturally, there are different rules that each country and their leaders must follow,” he continued.
China’s “rules”, as shown in a recent BBC News exposition, include systemic torture and rape in Uighur concentration camps.
Following the publication of the BBC report, China has banned capture on its territory.
Asked during City Hall if there would be repercussions for the CCP on the genocide, Biden ignored the question, saying the US “will reaffirm our role as human rights spokespersons for the UN and other agencies.”
“It simply came to our notice then [Xi] he knows that. What I am doing is clarifying that, in fact, we will continue to reaffirm our role as human rights spokespersons at the UN and other agencies that have an impact on their attitudes, ”he said.
Asked if China is not already too strong to be stopped from its horrific human rights practices, Biden expressed confidence that human rights will win the day.
“China is working hard to become the world leader. And in order to get that pseudonym and to be able to do that, you have to gain the trust of other countries. And as long as they are engaged in an activity that is contrary to fundamental human rights, it will be difficult for them to do so.
“But it’s much more complicated than that. I shouldn’t try to talk about Chinese politics in 10 minutes on TV here.”
A White House spokesman could not be reached immediately by The Post for comment.
During his confirmation hearings last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken specifically agreed with outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in identifying the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighur Muslims as a “genocide” and said that “there was a strong and long-standing bipartisan commitment to Taiwan … [and] the commitment to Taiwan is something we keep very strong. ”
Biden did not publicly acknowledge receiving a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese president.