Trump Reportedly Greenlights Xi to Operate Detention Camps
On This Day In 2017
China’s treatment of its Uighur minority is a gross human rights violation. More than a million Uighurs are held in prison camps in the Xinjian region, with former inmates describing torture, indoctrination, and horrific overcrowding that drove many others to suicide.
The non-profit group @earthrisemedia, together with Reuters, began analyzing satellite images of the area from around or OTDI 2017. Their work would reveal that over the next two years, shortly after Trump rose to power, China expanded these camp facilities at an incredible pace--more than doubling the size of the encampment from 380,000 to one million square meters.
Trump essentially said, “Great job, Xi!” Former National Security Advisor John Bolton revealed what happened during a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi at a G-20 summit. Bolton listened as Xi “explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang.” Trump’s response? He told Xi that he thought “that was exactly the right thing to do.”
Bolton added: “The National Security Council’s top Asia staffer, Matthew Pottinger, told me that Trump said something very similar during his November 2017 trip to China.”
Dive Deeper
See Reuters’ comprehensive, interactive feature on the camps
Read the Washington Post’s coverage of Bolton’s account
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