United States: The United States said it was imposing visa sanctions on Chinese officials pursuing “forced assimilation” of children in Tibet. It comes after UN experts said one million children have been separated from their families.
In the most recent actions taken by the US concerning Beijing, despite ongoing high-level talks, Secretary of State Mr. Antony Blinken has announced that the US will limit visas for Chinese officials responsible for the state boarding school policy.
“These coercive policies seek to eliminate Tibet’s distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions among younger generations of Tibetans,” Mr. Blinken said.
“We urge PRC authorities to end the coercion of Tibetan children into government-run boarding schools and to cease repressive assimilation policies, both in Tibet and throughout other parts of the PRC,” the Secretary of State remarked.
Since 2021, the US has accused China of waging genocide in another region, Xinjiang, through what US officials, rights groups, and witnesses say is a vast network of forced labour camps. China denies the charge.
According to a State Department spokesperson, these new restrictions will affect both current and former officials who were engaged in education policy in Tibet. However, specific details were not provided due to US visa record confidentiality laws.
The United States separately imposed sanctions in December 2023 on two top-ranking Chinese officials, Mr. Wu Yingjie and Mr. Zhang Hongbo, over what Washington said were widespread human rights violations in Tibet, as per the statement.
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