Amid the rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently criticised China over curtailing the religious freedom of Uyghurs. While speaking to Rob Schmitt of ‘Wake Up America’, Pompeo slammed China for treating a million of Uyghur Muslims in ways that are just “devastatingly bad”. The US official also equated the treatment of the minority community in China with Nazi’s Germany ethnic cleansing of the Jews in the 1930s.
Pompeo said, “China, which is devastatingly bad, they’re treating a million of Uyghur Muslims in ways that are just absolutely devastating, things we haven’t seen since Germany in the 1930s”.
Recently, various reports have surfaced which revealed that Beijing has in fact intensified its operations against Uyghurs by putting more people in internment camps during the pandemic times. The Uyghur Muslims in Chinese “re-education” camps are also reportedly being forced to eat port every Friday. Several international human rights activists and nations have condemned China’s actions.
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Pompeo calls religious freedom ‘fundamental right’
While answering to a question of Schmitt regarding effects of coronavirus on churches, synagogues, worship places and how repressive regimes like China is using the situation to their benefit in supporting Uyghurs, Pompeo upheld religious freedom as one of the fundamental rights. He said that he is incredibly proud of the work his country has done on religious freedom. He added that it is “most fundamental right, the human right that- from which all other flow”.
He said, “If you get religious freedom rights and tolerance for people of faith, so many good things happen in your country. So we’ve worked on this – is so we’ve worked hard on religious freedom”.
Further, Pompeo also rued the fact that leaders across the world are opening bars and casinos but places of worship were still not permitted to open. He said that it is “very discouraging” to see leaders use an excuse of the coronavirus to allow bars and casinos to be open, but not permit places of worship, people to gather around their faith.
(With inputs from ANI)
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