Biden campaign calls China's treatment of Uighur Muslims 'genocide' and pressures Trump to 'take action'

White House has yet to announce any policy moves towards Beijing as president sours on trade deal

The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is labelling China’s treatment of the Uighurs “genocide” and calling on Donald Trump to take action.

The Chinese government long has been criticised by human rights groups and many US lawmakers over its treatment of the Uighur Muslims and other minority groups in its Xinjiang region.

“The unspeakable oppression that Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have suffered at the hands of China’s authoritarian government is genocide and Joe Biden stands against it in the strongest terms,” Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told Axios.

“If the Trump administration does indeed choose to call this out for what it is, as Joe Biden already did, the pressing question is what will Donald Trump do to take action. He must also apologise for condoning this horrifying treatment of Uighurs,” the spokesman added.

The White House has yet to weigh in.

Mr Trump has been critical of Biejing’s handling of the coronavirus, often calling it the “China virus,” drawing allegations of racism from Democrats.

But during his term, he has been mostly complimentary of China and its president, Xi Jinping, as he sought a trade pact.

He got a mini-deal last year, but has since soured on that agreement.