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Blinken in an interview with NBC News on Sunday said that the US was “not focused on a boycott” but was consulting closely with allies and partners on their concerns in Xinjiang, where up to 1 million ethnic Uyghurs and other minorities are believed to have been detained.
He said that Washington needed to “bring the world together” to condemn Beijing’s repression of ethnic Uygurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, and ensure that US companies were not providing China with things that could be used for repression.
“When it comes to what we’re seeing from the government in Beijing, including with regard to the Uyghurs and the actions it has taken in Xinjiang, yes, I think that’s exactly the right description,” he said, according to a transcript by the US Department of State.
“We need to be able to bring the world together in speaking with one voice in condemning what has taken place and what continues to take place; we need to take, actually, concrete actions to make sure, for example, that none of our companies are providing China with things that they can use to repress populations, including the Uyghur population; we need to be looking at products that are made in that part of China to make sure that they’re not coming here; but we also have to make sure that we are dealing with all of our interests, and what is the best way to effectively advance our interests and our values,” he added.
There have been growing discussions over a boycott by the US and its allies of the 2022 Olympics over Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang, with the US State Department earlier distancing itself from statements that a boycott was something that “we certainly wish to discuss” with allies.
“We’re not there yet. This is a year or so before the Olympics. We’re not focused on a boycott. What we are focused on is talking, consulting closely with our allies and partners, listening to them, listening to concerns. But that’s premature,” he said on the possible boycott.
Recently, US Senator Mitt Romney in March urged the Biden administration to partially boycott the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing over the reports of gross human rights violations against the Uyghur community in Xinjiang.
The 2012 Republican Presidential candidate called on President Biden to allow U.S. athletes to attend the games but said American spectators should not.
The US and some of its allies, including the European Union, have imposed sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang province. The Winter Olympics in 2022 is slated to be held between February 4 and 20 in Beijing.
In February, a coalition of 180 human rights groups has urged governments around the world to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympic Games slated for next year due to China’s reported human rights abuses towards minorities.
In February, a coalition of 180 human rights groups has urged governments around the world to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympic Games slated for next year due to China’s reported human rights abuses towards minorities.
China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.
Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on the ethnic community, according to a report.
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