US-China Relations and Human Rights: The Xinjiang Case

Human rights has been a contentious issue in US-China relations from their very beginning. In the early years the issue was one-way, with Washington constantly criticizing political, legal, and social inequities in Mao's China. China has fought back, pointing to deficiencies in the US system while proceeding in recent years to implement a large-scale program of detention and incarceration targeting Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Neither the United States nor any other country or international organization can compel adherence to human rights norms in China. But setting an example of such adherence does get noticed, and if a president Biden aligns with Black Lives Matter, respects the rule of law, refuses to endorse dictators, and urges the US Senate to approve and ratify all the UN conventions on human rights, he might be more persuasive in urging Beijing to change its direction on human rights. But this is only conceivable if pursued in the context of a new US policy of competitive coexistence with China, and not strategic confrontation.