Biden mum on declaring Uighur abuses genocide even as Canada's parliament does so
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President Biden has yet to declare reported atrocities by China against Uighurs in Xinjiang province to be genocide even after Canada’s parliament voted Monday to pass a nonbinding motion applying the classification and Europe increases pressure on the Chinese Communist government.
Biden, who vowed to be tough on China while on the campaign trail, has been careful not to classify the human rights abuses against the Uighurs since entering office -- despite the Trump administration declaring the actions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as genocide one day before vacating the White House.
The international community is taking an increasingly strong stand on human rights abuses committed against the Uighur Muslim population in northwest China.
The European Union Tuesday urged China to allow access by independent observers to investigate reports of secret detention camps, forced sterilization and political indoctrination Tuesday.
"Once again, we urge China to allow meaningful access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including High Commissioner Bachelet," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said to the United Nations Human Rights Council. "This is key to enable an independent, impartial and transparent assessment of the grave concerns that the international community has."
Turkey and Britain also called on the United Nation Human Rights Council earlier this week to address the growing reports of widespread abuse.
Though, like President Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not himself said that China's actions constitute genocide.
The White House did not respond to Fox News’ questions on whether the topic was addressed during the virtual meeting held between the two world leaders Tuesday.
Biden did not mention China’s human rights abuses in his remarks following their closed-door meeting, but he said the U.S. and Canada are coordinating "approaches to better compete with China and to counter threats to our interests and values."
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Biden came under fire following his call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, for what some Republican officials saw as an attempt to justify China's actions.
China has rejected the accusations of genocide as "slanderous attacks," and has blamed the media for false and biased reporting.
