President Biden faced rapid criticism Tuesday night for comments on how he plans to address human rights abuses in China.
Biden recently had a phone call with President Xi Jinping and said his counterpart was focused on maintaining a “united and tightly controlled China”. Biden said that this focus is what drives Xi.
But, as president of the United States, Biden said during an event at CNN’s Milwaukee prefecture, he needs to speak out against Beijing’s aggression in Hong Kong, “what is he doing with the Uighurs in the mountains of western China” and with Taiwan. Biden said that Xi understands this.
“Culturally, there are different rules” that leaders must follow, said Biden. He later said that China will face “repercussions” for its actions.
Still, the comment about the “different rules” prompted Biden’s detractors to accuse him of minimizing situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called what is happening in the west of the country “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”.
Boris Epshteyn, a 2020 strategic adviser to former President Trump, called Biden’s comment in the city hall “horrible”.
The BBC recently published a hard-hitting report on allegations of forced labor and sexual abuse in the Xinjiang region. The BBC said there was a formal legal opinion published in the UK that said there was a “very credible case” that Beijing was committing genocide against Uighurs, an allegation that China has denied.
The White House did not immediately respond to an e-mail after Fox News hours for clarification. Biden’s inner circle spoke out against the treatment of Muslims and ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said last month that the US should be “prepared to act, as well as to impose costs, for what China is doing in Xinjiang, what it is doing in Hong Kong, for the bellicosity and threats it’s projecting towards Taiwan. “
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this month that he had a phone call with a senior Chinese official and spoke about the country’s treatment of Uighurs, Hong Kong and other issues, according to VOA News.
“I made it clear that the United States will defend our national interests, defend our democratic values and hold Beijing accountable for its abuses of the international system,” Blinken wrote in a post on Twitter.
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Last week, Biden announced a Pentagon-operated China task force that is focused on how to contain Chinese aggression in the Pacific region, DefenseNews.com reported.
Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a minority leader in the House, responded to Biden’s announcement, saying the Republicans had already formed a similar group.
“After agreeing to join, the Democrats left,” he said. “Our national security must not be partisan. I call on the Biden government to join our efforts so that we can work together to keep America safe.”
Shortly after last week’s call with Xi, the White House issued a statement that said: “Biden highlighted his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, repression in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and ever-increasing actions more assertive in the region, including towards Taiwan. ”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.