Foreign Policy reports that the State Department has begun an official review into whether the Chinese Communist Party’s actions in Xinjiang constitute a genocide.

This has been a long time coming. Back in August, Politico reported that the Trump administration might undertake such a review process. Although administration officials have been outspoken on the plight of the Uyghurs, the path toward a potential atrocity determination has been a long time coming. It’s a tough legal case to make, particularly because it requires an assertion of what the intent of the perpetrators actually is. Needless to say, Beijing hasn’t copped to the systematic elimination of the Uyghur people — in fact, it runs a global disinformation campaign to deny its crimes.