Trump backed Xi over concentration camps for Uighur Muslims, ex-aide Bolton claims

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Donald Trump told the Chinese president Xi Jinping that building concentration camps to "re-educate" Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang was the right thing to do, according to sensational claims in a new book by John Bolton, the former US national security adviser.

The White House has tried to block the release of The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir. But an advance copy obtained by The Washington Post reports Mr Bolton's claim that Mr Trump backed the controversial camps during a conversation with Mr Xi at a G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.

It is also claimed that the US president asked his Chinese counterpart to help him win the 2020 election by purchasing more agricultural products from the United States.

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The alleged incident echoes Mr Trump's July 2019 request to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to "do us a favour" by announcing investigations into Joe Biden, the likely Democratic challenger in November's election.

Mr Trump was impeached over the incident but was acquitted by his Republican allies in the Senate – which had voted not to hear more evidence from Mr Bolton who had made clear he had relevant information.

During the G20 meeting, Mr Bolton wrote that Mr Xi defended China's construction of camps housing up to 1 million Uighur Muslims and that Mr Trump signalled his approval.

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The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear EPA 6/50 12 June 2020 A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill Getty 7/50 11 June 2020 A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from "Extinction Rebellion" to protest the German government's coal policies in Berlin AFP via Getty 8/50 10 June 2020 A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue's head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US AFP via Getty 9/50 9 June 2020 Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism AFP via Getty 10/50 8 June 2020 People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest AFP via Getty 11/50 7 June 2020 A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan EPA 12/50 6 June 2020 Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP via Getty 13/50 5 June 2020 A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty 14/50 4 June 2020 Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus AFP via Getty 15/50 3 June 2020 A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo AP 16/50 2 June 2020 Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd AP 17/50 1 June 2020 Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd EPA 18/50 31 May 2020 A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand AFP via Getty 19/50 30 May 2020 Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota Reuters 20/50 29 May 2020 A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece Reuters 21/50 28 May 2020 Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok AFP via Getty 22/50 27 May 2020 Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong Getty 23/50 26 May 2020 Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander's video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man's neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving Star Tribune via AP 24/50 25 May 2020 The aerobatic demonstration team 'Frecce Tricolori' of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus EPA 25/50 24 May 2020 Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan AFP via Getty 26/50 23 May 2020 Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia EPA 27/50 22 May 2020 Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi AFP via Getty 28/50 21 May 2020 Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: "Get out Bolsonaro" during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro's impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) AP 29/50 20 May 2020 People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea Yonhap/AP 30/50 19 May 2020 Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany dpa via AP 31/50 18 May 2020 Ugandan academic Stella Nyanzi reacts as police officers detain her for protesting against the way that government distributes the relief food and lockdown situation in Kampala Reuters 32/50 17 May 2020 A woman sits alone on a bench in a park following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin, Ireland Reuters 33/50 16 May 2020 Crematory workers using protective gear are pictured at a crematory in Nezahualcoyotl during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico Reuters 34/50 15 May 2020 Healthcare workers, nurses and doctors, unified under the movement called "Take Care of Care" wearing face masks protest against the Belgian authorities' management of the coronavirus crisis, at the MontLegia CHC Hospital Reuters 35/50 14 May 2020 A girl watches over goats on the banks of the Dal Lake during rainfall in Srinagar AFP via Getty Images 36/50 13 May 2020 Life-size cardboard figures with photos of football fans are positioned on the stands of Borussia Moenchengladbach's football stadium for their next game, which will be played without spectators, due to the coronavirus outbreak in Germany Reuters 37/50 12 May 2020 Nurses wearing face masks take part in an event held to mark International Nurses Day, at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in China China Daily via Reuters 38/50 11 May 2020 Iraqi protesters gather on the Al-Jumhuriyah bridge in the capital Baghdad during an anti-government demonstration. Modest anti-government rallies resumed in some Iraqi cities Sunday, clashing with security forces and ending months of relative calm just days after Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi's government came to power. The protests first erupted in Baghdad and Shiite-majority southern cities in October, demanding an end to corruption and unemployment and an overhaul of the ruling class AFP via Getty 39/50 10 May 2020 A man wearing a mask walks his dog in Madrid during the hours allowed by the government to exercise. Spain's two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, will not enter the next phase out of coronavirus lockdown along with many other regions next week AFP via Getty 40/50 9 May 2020 Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation after laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia. Russia marks the 75th anniversary since the capitulation of Nazi Germany in WWII amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic EPA 41/50 8 May 2020 German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the German Parliament Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Council Bundesrat in Germany Dietmar Woidke and the presiding judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court's second senate, Andreas Vosskuhle attend wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Countries in Europe are commemorating the Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day that celebrates Nazi Germany's surrender during World World II on 8 May 1945 EPA 42/50 7 May 2020 A policeman uses his baton to push a resident breaking rules, during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus in Ahmedabad, India Reuters 43/50 6 May 2020 A nurse tends to a crying newborn baby wearing a face shield at the National Maternity Hospital in Hanoi AFP via Getty 44/50 5 May 2020 Bride Janine runs over to her wedding at a Drive-in cinema in Duesseldorf, Germany. The Drive-in theatre started to register official marriages on a stage, allowing all relatives and friends to attend in their cars, as weddings at the registry office are limited due to the coronavirus pandemic AP 45/50 4 May 2020 Storekeepers asking for the reopening of shops and commercial activities gather for a flashmob protest on Piazza San Marco in Venice, as Italy starts to ease its lockdown AFP via Getty 46/50 3 May 2020 A street vendor wearing a protective face mask waits for customers in Chinatown, after the government started opening some restaurants outside shopping malls, parks, and barbershops in Bangkok, Thailand Reuters 47/50 2 May 2020 Two women carry longboards on an esplanade in Barcelona, during the hours allowed by the government to exercise, for the first time since the beginning of a national lockdown. All Spaniards are again allowed to leave their homes since today to walk or play sports after 48 days of very strict confinement to curb the coronavirus pandemic AFP via Getty 48/50 1 May 2020 A girl, wearing a protective mask, plays with bubbles at a shopping mall in Gimpo, South Korea Reuters 49/50 30 April 2020 Buddhist monks wearing face masks pray during Buddha's birthday at the Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, South Korea AP 50/50 29 April 2020 A visitor in a plexiglass lock talks to a resident at Les Jardins d'Astrid, a rest home in Maurage, La Louviere, on April 29, 2020, as the visits to residents of rest homes are possible from today in Wallonia. - Belgium is in its seventh week of confinement in the ongoing corona virus crisis. The government has announced a phased plan to attempt an exit from the lockdown situation in the country, continuing to avoid the spread of Covid-19 Belga/AFP/Getty

"According to our interpreter," Mr Bolton writes, "Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do."

Mr Bolton said that the conversation occurred during an opening dinner, attended only by translators, when Mr Xi explained "why he was basically building concentration camps" in the province where the Chinese Communist Party had been interning the ethnic minority.

While the account of the dinner came through the US interpreter, Mr Bolton writes that he was also told by another National Security Council official, Matt Pottinger, that Mr Trump said something similar during a 2017 trip to China.

The episode was part of what Mr Bolton describes as Mr Trump's callous lack of concern about human rights, with securing a second term the one goal that loomed above all else.

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"I am hard pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn't driven by reelection calculations," Mr Bolton writes.

The claims came to light on the same day that Mr Trump signed into legislation the ability to sanction Chinese officials responsible for oppressing Uighur Muslims.

Mr Trump said in a statement on Wednesday that the Uighur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 holds "accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses".

"Such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labour, and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uighurs and other minorities in China," Mr Trump said.

The US State Department believes Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups are held in the Chinese camps, and that they are reportedly subjected to torture, cruel and inhumane treatment such as physical and sexual abuse, forced labour and death.