Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Wednesday (local time) blamed the declaration of genocide on outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing him of fabricating "sensational false propositions" throughout his term in office.

Less than a day before the Trump administration left office, China's Foreign Ministry offered a parting gift: slapping sanctions on 10 sitting or former Trump administration officials.

Hua said that "The US must immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and immediately stop using various pretences to interfere in China's internal affairs, endangering China's national security", and that the US actions with regard to Hong Kong and Taiwan are leading them down the path of "error and danger". "They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China".

Pompeo and the others had "planned, promoted and executed a series of insane moves, gravely interfered in China's internal affairs, undermined China's interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations", it said.

The International Criminal Court can investigate crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, but China -like the United States - is not a court member, so the situation in Xinjiang would have to be referred by the UN Security Council, where China could veto such a move. But this will be a stain on China's image on the world stage and a cloud over the future of U.S.

Examples given by the foreign ministry include the administration's role in the assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani past year, training and arming anti-Iran forces in the region, and "offering all-out support to the Israeli regime's oppression against the Palestinian nation".

Under the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, the USA has butted heads with China over trade, security, technology, the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and rights from Hong Kong to Xinjiang, home to the Uighur minority.

"After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined that since at least March 2017, the People's Republic of China (PRC), under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has committed crimes against humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other members of ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang", Pompeo said in a statement.

This is the first US genocide determination since the Obama administration determined ISIS's crimes against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria amounted to genocide.

U.S. officials said Pompeo viewed a lot of open-source reporting and evidence before making the declaration, but did not provide examples.

"This U.S. politician is notorious for lying and cheating, is making himself a laughing stock and a clown", she said.

The US has previously spoken out and taken action on Xinjiang, implementing a range of sanctions against senior Chinese Communist Party leaders and state-run enterprises that fund repressive policies in the vast, resource-rich region.

"President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China", Blinken said. -China relations. Beijing can expect a temporary reprieve from the breathtaking pace of new punitive measures while Biden and his team focus on the COVID-19 pandemic at home, but the foundation of the relationship is set.