PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2021-03-16 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Did Biden Defend China's Atrocities Against Uyghurs as 'Cultural Differences'? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • In February 2021, some news outlets accused U.S. President Joe Biden of making horrific excuses for China's atrocities against its Uyghur population. For example, a New York Post headline dated Feb. 17, 2021, reported, Biden dismisses Uighur genocide as part of China’s 'different norms.' The Post reported: President Biden is dismissing the genocide against the Uighur population in China, dubbing the mass internment a 'different norm' — despite the State Department this month responding to atrocities in the camps, following reports of systemic rape and torture. The Post's editors followed this story up with an editorial claiming Biden had made horrific excuses for the Chinese government's human rights abuses. This characterization of Biden's comments during the CNN town hall was misleading. The remark in question came during a Feb. 16, 2021, presidential town hall held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. During the town hall, Cooper asked Biden whether he had brought up the Chinese government's human rights abuses, namely against its Uyghur population, in his discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden didn't say that cultural differences are a justification for China's atrocities against Uyghurs — instead, his meaning appeared to be the opposite of that. Biden stated that Xi implicitly understood he or any U.S. president would be expected to take a position against human rights abuses by the Chinese government. Here is a transcript of full the exchange between Cooper and Biden, with the key portion bolded: Later Biden indicated that Xi knew that human rights abuses by the Chinese government would result in consequences: We reached out to the White House asking for clarification on Biden's remark. Kedenard Raymond, director of communications for the National Security Council, wrote in an emailed statement to Snopes that Biden's comment conveyed the expectation that an American president will speak out against human rights abuses: The Chinese government has been accused of genocide because it has detained many members of its Uyghur population in camps where they have been systematically abused and tortured. Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken has voiced his agreement with the assessment that China's actions against its Uyghur population amounts to genocide. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url