{"slug":"xi-uyghur-camps-approval-2019","title":"Bolton: Trump Told Xi to 'Go Ahead' With Uyghur Detention Camps","date":"2020-06-17","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"In his 2020 memoir, former National Security Adviser John Bolton wrote that Chinese leader Xi Jinping explained to Trump, at a summit in Japan in 2019 with only interpreters present, why he was building camps in Xinjiang (as reported by the Associated Press). 'According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which he thought was exactly the right thing to do.' Roughly a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims had been detained without trial. Bolton added that another official said something similar, 'which meant we could cross repression of the Uighurs off our list of possible reasons to sanction China, at least as long as trade negotiations continued.' Trump called the book 'a compilation of lies and made up stories.' The account is uncorroborated by a second named first-hand witness.","summary":"According to John Bolton, Trump privately told Xi Jinping that building the Xinjiang detention camps was 'exactly the right thing to do', and repression of the Uyghurs was set aside as a reason for sanctions while trade talks continued. Trump denies the book's account. The Trump administration on July 9, 2020 sanctioned Xinjiang party secretary Chen Quanguo and other officials (Wikipedia) and, on its last full day, declared the persecution a genocide.","category":"foreign-policy","severity":"significant","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/875876905/trump-told-china-to-go-ahead-with-concentration-camps-bolton-alleges-in-new-book","title":"Trump Told China To 'Go Ahead' With Prison Camps, Bolton Alleges In New Book","publisher":"NPR"},{"url":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/19/mike-pompeo-china-uighur-genocide-sanctions-xinjiang","title":"Mike Pompeo declares China's treatment of Uighurs 'genocide'","publisher":"The Guardian"},{"url":"https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/19/break-their-lineage-break-their-roots/chinas-crimes-against-humanity-targeting","title":"'Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots': China's Crimes against Humanity Targeting Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims","publisher":"Human Rights Watch"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/63f156933a5520d157dea25ab764af09","title":"Bolton: Trump said Xi was right to detain ethnic minorities","publisher":"Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/bolton-book-trump-xi-jinping-buy-us-products-win-reelection-2020-6","title":"Trump pleaded with China's president to buy US agricultural products to help him win the 2020 election, John Bolton's new book says","publisher":"Business Insider"},{"url":"https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-53088121","title":"Libro de John Bolton: 4 revelaciones sobre Trump en las polémicas memorias","publisher":"BBC News Mundo"},{"url":"https://www.nydailynews.com/2020/06/17/john-bolton-book-says-trump-gave-favors-to-dictators-confirms-he-bullied-ukraine/","title":"Bolton book says Trump gave 'favors to dictators,' bullied Ukraine","publisher":"New York Daily News"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_Human_Rights_Policy_Act","title":"Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (July 9, 2020 sanctions on Chen Quanguo and other officials)","publisher":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Uyghurs_in_China","title":"Persecution of Uyghurs in China","publisher":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_Where_It_Happened","title":"The Room Where It Happened","publisher":"Wikipedia"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Uyghurs","Xinjiang","China","Xi Jinping","John Bolton","crimes against humanity","trade negotiations","first term"],"relatedEntries":["trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments"],"timeline":[{"date":"2019-06-29","title":"Trump and Xi meet at the G20 in Japan","summary":"Trump and Xi meet at the G20 summit in Osaka (Business Insider photo caption). According to Bolton, during a bilateral meeting at the June 2019 G20 summit in Japan, Trump asks Xi to help him win re-election through Chinese farm purchases (BBC Mundo). The AP reports that Bolton places the camps exchange 'at a summit in Japan in 2019, with only interpreters present'; the sources reviewed do not say whether it was this same meeting."},{"date":"2020-06-17","title":"Bolton's account published; Trump signs the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act","summary":"Excerpts of 'The Room Where It Happened' are published. The same day, Trump signs the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which he says 'holds accountable perpetrators of human rights violations' (NPR)."},{"date":"2021-01-19","title":"Genocide determination, on the administration's last full day","summary":"Secretary of State Pompeo declares that China has committed genocide against the Uyghurs. The Guardian reports that the declaration had been held back over concerns about trade talks."}],"location":{"name":"Xinjiang, China (subject of the reported exchange)","lat":41.1129,"lng":85.2401},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court","article":"Article 25(3)(c)","provision":"Aiding and abetting another's crime for the purpose of facilitating it. Cited to explain why the reported conduct does not meet it: verbal approval with no shown effect on the crime is not substantial assistance. The United States and China are not parties."},{"statute":"Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide","article":"Article I","provision":"States parties undertake to prevent genocide (the United States is a party; the US government itself determined in January 2021 that genocide was occurring in Xinjiang)"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims detained in Xinjiang (roughly 1 million, per NPR). The reported conduct is an endorsement of their detention; no material contribution by the United States is shown.","perpetrators":"President Donald Trump (reported statement to Xi Jinping). The detentions themselves were carried out by the government of the People's Republic of China.","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Reported to have told Xi Jinping to go ahead with building the camps","institution":"White House"}],"keyPoints":["The AP reports that, according to the book, Xi explained the camps to Trump 'at a summit in Japan in 2019, with only interpreters present.' 'According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which he thought was exactly the right thing to do' (NPR and AP, quoting the book).","Bolton says another official said something similar, 'which meant we could cross repression of the Uighurs off our list of possible reasons to sanction China, at least as long as trade negotiations continued' (NPR).","NPR reported that roughly 1 million people had been detained without trial and subjected to 'reeducation' and other harsh treatment.","Trump called the book 'a compilation of lies and made up stories'; Secretary of State Pompeo called Bolton a 'traitor' (Wikipedia, citing contemporary reports).","The day the excerpts were published, June 17, 2020, Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (NPR).","On January 19, 2021, Pompeo declared that China 'has committed genocide' against the Uyghurs. The Guardian reported that the administration had not made the declaration earlier 'because of concerns of its impact on trade talks.'","Human Rights Watch concluded in April 2021 that the Chinese government's conduct in Xinjiang amounts to crimes against humanity."],"legalBasis":"Genocide Convention Article I (duty to prevent); Rome Statute Article 25(3)(c) (complicity standard, not met on the facts reported)","postureNote":"A single account at second hand: Bolton attributes the words to the US interpreter. Bolton reports that another official said something similar; that official's own account was not found in this review. Trump denies the book's account in general terms. No investigation or proceeding has addressed it.","relatedIncidents":["trump-first-term-shithole-countries-comments"]}}