Trump signs into law bill to punish China over crackdown on Uyghur Muslims
Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed into law a legislation that condemns the gross human rights violations of Uyghur minority groups in China's restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, paving the way for imposing sanctions against senior Chinese officials.
The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, 2020 holds accountable the perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labour and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other minorities in China, Trump said.
However, a section of the Act purports to limit his discretion to terminate inadmissibility sanctions under the Act, he said on Wednesday. In some circumstances, this limitation could be inconsistent with my constitutional authorities , Trump said.
Reacting to the development, the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing slammed the law, saying it "maliciously attacks" China's policy in the Xinjiang region.
China will "resolutely hit back and the US will bear the burden of all subsequent consequences", it said in a statement after Trump signed the Act into law.
The bill, which includes sanctions on the senior Chinese officials directly involved in the crackdown on the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, was passed with an overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
Senator Marco Rubio applauded the Act and said that it is an important step in countering the totalitarian Chinese government's widespread and horrific human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including the mass internment of over one million Uyghurs and other predominantly ethnic Turkic Muslims, as well as Beijing's intimidation and threats against US citizens and legal permanent residents on American soil.
By signing the Act into law, President Trump took a historic step in the support of Uyghur Muslims worldwide and against China's egregious human rights abuses and probable crimes against humanity, he said.
As the Chinese government and Communist Party of China (CPC) continue its mass internment of at least a million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, the US will hold the CPC and its enablers accountable for their heinous crimes, said Rubio.
He is the co-chair of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations' Subcommittee that oversees human rights, and is a member of the subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy.
The internment of at least a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities is reprehensible and inexcusable, and the Chinese Communist Party and government must be held to account. This legislation is the product of a true bipartisan, bicameral effort and I look forward to its full implementation soon, said Senator Jim Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) welcomed the enactment of the law. Uyghurs around the world are celebrating, said Omer Kanat, UHRP Executive Director.
It's the kind of news we have been waiting for, more than three years into the Uyghur crisis. But the US cannot be the sole nation acting to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes. Uyghurs call on countries around the world to work together against ethno-religious persecution, profiling and cultural genocide, he said.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom thanked Trump for signing the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
It is a great day for the American citizens as well as Uyghur and other Turkic people in China who have been subject to ghastly human rights abuses by the Communist Party of China, USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
