It used to be that U.S. officials annually debated whether to give China most-favored-nation trading status, an exercise that involved a review of human-rights abuses there. 

In 2001, the U.S. gave China “permanent normal trade relations” that ended the ritual yearly hand-wringing over China’s treatment of dissidents and minority groups. But now, given China’s oppression of its Muslim population, human rights cannot be set aside.

China’s crackdown on Uighurs in the northwestern part of the country, along with the persecution of other Muslims and Tibetans, has resurrected elements of the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong’s violent recommitment of the nation to his strain of communism. Among other abuses, the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from the mid 1960s until Mao’s death in 1976, included the internment of ideologically unfit officials and intellectuals in “re-education camps.”

Under current Chinese President Xi Jinping, as many as 1 million people have been interned in new camps, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. The detainees are held without due process and, according to the human rights group, some are being forced to learn the Chinese language, “sing praises of the Chinese communist party” and prove that they have become “loyal Chinese subjects,” while enduring overcrowding, poor medical care and torture in the camps.

The government also is persecuting Muslims it hasn’t forced into detention.

China has described its hard line against minority groups as an effort to increase internal stability, unify the country culturally and protect national security. 

But this is an old story; China long has persecuted minority groups, and the intolerance only has increased under Mr. Xi, who, like Mao, has positioned himself to be China’s leader for life. Human Rights Watch says the scale of repression is the most extensive it’s been in decades.

Now, the Trump administration is weighing sanctions against China, an idea already supported by some in Congress. At the very least, the government should prevent U.S. companies from selling technology to China that might be used to monitor, detain or discriminate against its minority groups. 

No nation likes others to meddle in its internal affairs. But when a nation acts as China has toward its Muslim population, someone needs to speak up. Silence only will embolden the Chinese to commit additional abuses.

First Published: September 21, 2018, 4:00 a.m.