WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nicholas Burns, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to China, said on Wednesday that China’s “genocide in Xinjiang,” abuses in Tibet and bullying of Taiwan must stop.
Human rights advocates have termed China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang region “genocide,” a characterization that China rejects.
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Burns, 65, a career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, also said Washington is correct in adhering to its “one China” policy on Taiwan, but also right to oppose actions from Beijing that undermine the status quo and that the United States has “enormous latitude” to deepen security assistance.
(Reporting by Michael Martina and Patricia Zengerle)
