US lawmakers called on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's administration to impose sanctions over rights abuses in China as they released a report describing "crimes against humanity" towards the Uighur minority.
In a wide-ranging annual report, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which tracks human rights in the Asian power, voiced alarm at Beijing's incarceration of more than one million Uighurs and other Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang.
"The Commission believes Chinese authorities may be committing crimes against humanity against the Uighur people and other Turkic Muslims," it said.
Representative Chris Smith, a member of the commission, pointed to Uighur witnesses who said they were targeted for their Muslim faith.
"We are talking about crimes against humanity on a massive scale," Smith told a news conference.
"We are talking, with regards to what is being done to the Uighurs, something we have not seen since World War II. And the Chinese government, particularly (President) Xi Jinping, needs to be held accountable for this egregious behavior," he said.
China's foreign ministry on Thursday dismissed the commission's report and accused US lawmakers of making "unwarranted accusations against China."
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