White House welcomes UN report on China's human rights violations, but Biden-Xi meeting still on the table

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The White House on Thursday said President Biden will still meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week despite welcoming a United Nations report that described China’s potential "crimes against humanity" in its crackdown on Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave a briefing the day after the release of the 48-page U.N. report accusing China of serious human rights violations. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

"The United States welcomes … this important report, which describes authoritatively the abhorrent human rights treatment of the Uyghurs and other minority communities by the People's Republic of China government," Jean-Pierre told reports. "The report deepens our grave concern regarding the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity that China is perpetrating. Our position on the atrocities in Xinjiang has been clearly demonstrated with our words and in our actions."

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The release of the report came amid preliminary plans for Biden and Xi to meet in person. The White House confirmed earlier this month the two agreed to the in-person meeting when they last spoke in July, but following weeks of heightened tension the two superpowers have yet to nail down a date. 

Asked Thursday why a Biden-Xi meeting would be appropriate given Chinese atrocities, Jean-Pierre said she didn’t have anything to share. 

"There’s not a process that I can speak or share with you at this time," Jean-Pierre said.  

Human rights groups have accused China of sweeping a million or more people from the minority groups into detention camps where many have said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and forced to abandon their language and religion. 

FILE: Guard towers stand on the perimeter wall of the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on April 23, 2021.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The camps were just one part of what the rights organizations have called a ruthless campaign against extremism in the far western province of Xinjiang that also included draconian birth control policies and all-encompassing restrictions on people's movement.

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Beijing has denounced the U.N. report as a fabrication cooked up by Western nations. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.