Contact is taking a holiday!

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United States Vice President Mike Pence criticised China’s political oppression of ethnic minorities during a speech at the Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, on October 4. He called China “a surveillance state” and accused it of meddling in American politics.

He brought up several facts that showcase Chinese persecution of ethnic groups and commented on the instances of self-immolations in occupied Tibet. Pence said,“Beijing is also cracking down on Buddhism. Over the past decade, more than 150 Tibetan Buddhist monks have lit themselves on fire to protest China’s repression of their beliefs and culture.”

Vice President also mentioned the recent “provisional agreement” signed by Beijing and Vatican that allows Chinese government appoint bishops saying,“A new wave of persecution is crashing down on Chinese Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims. And Beijing has now reached a deal with the Vatican that gives the avowedly atheist Communist Party a direct role in appointing Catholic bishops. For China’s Christians, these are desperate times.”

He spoke against Chinese persecution of Uyghurs, the second largest Muslim ethnic group in China,and alleged that China is oppressing their religious freedoms and traditions. “In Xinjiang, the Communist Party has imprisoned as many as one million Muslim Uyghurs in government camps where they endure around-the-clock brainwashing. Survivors of the camps have described their experiences as a deliberate attempt by Beijing to strangle Uyghur culture and stamp out the Muslim faith,” Pence said.

In addition to that, he also warned that ethnic minorities, specifically Muslim Uyghurs and Tibetans in China, are increasingly living under a “police state”, after China’s communist government imposed a series of sweeping counter-terrorism measures.He said thatby 2020, China’s rulers aim to implement an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life – the so-called “social credit score.”

Lastly, Vice President expressed his opinion on China’s attempts to meddle in the upcoming American elections saying: “Beijing has mobilised covert actors, front groups and propaganda outlets to shift Americans’ perception of Chinese policies. As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country.”