The US may finally be taking action against China for its alleged human-rights abuses

pulse 04:47 - 11 September 2018

China's widespread surveillance and detention of Uighur Muslims has gained global attention in recent months, and groups across the political spectrum are calling for action.

The US may be eyeing sanctions against China for its widespread surveillance and detention of Uighur Muslims, according to a
The move follows a
The widespread surveillance and detention of Uighur Muslims has gained global attention in recent months, prompting a global call to action that spans the political spectrum.

The US is said to be eyeing sanctions against China over its widespread surveillance and detention of Uighur Muslims, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Officials are also seeking to limit the sale of US surveillance technologies that could be used to keep close watch on the 11 million residents of China's northwest Xinjiang region, current and former US officials told the newspaper.

The move follows a push from US lawmakers last month who sought to punish Chinese Communist Party officials like

Talk of potential US sanctions on China come at a complicated time, as the two countries are locked in an escalating trade dispute in which President Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on $267 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Last month,

The region has become one of themost intrusive police states in the world, and government surveillance of Muslim Uighurs permeates almost every aspect of their lives, from an expansive network of facial-recognition cameras activity, to policecollecting DNA samples, fingerprints, iris scans, and blood types to keep a database of all its residents.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch released an expansive report on human-rights violations in Xinjiang which it said were of a "