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If the Chinese leadership hoped this week’s grandiose celebrations marking the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial would deflect international attention from China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, they’ll be sorely disappointed.
To begin with, the United States introduced fresh sanctions on Chinese silicon over allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang last Thursday. Though analysts suggest the impact of the latest measures is likely to be limited, they signal that pressure on China over its brutal repression of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the region will only mount, amid growing scrutiny from Western countries whose statements of concern are now translating into action.