The United States said Tuesday that it has determined that the Chinese government's crackdown on its Muslim Uyghur minority amounts to "genocide," in a move that will likely further strain bilateral ties just as Democrat Joe Biden is set to take office.

Since at least March 2017, China has committed "crimes against humanity" against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang autonomous region in the western part of the country, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Beijing has taken such measures as "the arbitrary imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than 1 million civilians, forced sterilization" and other activities, Pompeo said in a statement. "I believe this genocide is ongoing," he added.