The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to toughen Washington’s position against China regarding its treatment of minority Uighurs, calling on President Donald Trump to apply sanctions against senior Chinese officials.
The Uighur Act of 2019 condemns Beijing’s “gross human rights violations” linked to the crackdown in the western region of Xinjiang, where as many as one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are being held in re-education camps.
The measure, which passed 407 to 1, is a stronger version of the bill that cleared the Senate in September. The two versions must be reconciled into one bill that gets sent to Trump’s desk.
The vote is sure to draw China’s ire. Beijing has already threatened retaliation against Washington for Trump signing legislation last week supporting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, just as the world’s top two economies edge towards a trade truce.
The latest House measure condemns the mass arbitrary detainment of Uighurs and calls for closure of the re-education camps where they have been held and abused, according to rights groups and US lawmakers.
Inside America’s 6th-gen arsenal: B-21, F-47, and the future of air dominance
Keith Urban Abruptly Hangs Up on Interview After Being Asked ‘Deeply Personal’ Question
DNC revamps messaging, says Trump is ‘killing the American dream’ through price hikes, ‘big beautiful bill’
Here’s Why So Many Americans Hate Their Own Country: How Our Two Views of America Came from the Civil War Era
‘Like the Energizer Bunny’: Trump Takes Jobs Report Victory Lap at CNN’s Expense
Trump’s Winning So Much, Even the Establishment Can’t Help But Be in Awe at His ‘Hot Streak’
Everything comes up Trump: President scores multiple victories ahead of Fourth of July holiday
Congress tries to ban insider trading by its members
President Trump to honor Iran strike flight team at the White House
Trump pitches plan allowing farmers to vouch for illegal immigrant workers facing deportation
Despite being repeatedly rejected by voters, Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke are considering comeback bids
Can Trump make farming great again?
The 12-day war: Israel and Trump have redrawn the map of the Middle East
Colorado man sentenced to life in prison for DUI that killed Air Force veteran, injured his children
The epic, Charlton Heston, and the smallness of Hollywood
The bill notably urges Trump to slap sanctions on Chinese officials behind the Uighur policy, including Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party chief for Xinjiang.
“Today the human dignity and human rights of the Uighur community are under threat from Beijing’s barbarous actions, which are an outrage to the collective conscience of the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her colleagues shortly before the vote.
Congress “is taking a critical step to counter Beijing’s horrific human rights abuses against Uighurs,” she said.
“America is watching.”
Pelosi lashed out at Chinese authorities for orchestrating a repressive crackdown that includes pervasive mass state surveillance, solitary confinement, beatings, forced sterilization “and other forms of torture.”
Rights groups and witnesses accuse China of forcibly trying to draw Uighurs away from their Islamic customs and integrate them into the majority Han culture.
After initially denying their existence, Beijing now defends the camps, which it calls “vocational education centers,” as a necessary measure to counter religious extremism and terrorism.
Inside America’s 6th-gen arsenal: B-21, F-47, and the future of air dominance
Keith Urban Abruptly Hangs Up on Interview After Being Asked ‘Deeply Personal’ Question
DNC revamps messaging, says Trump is ‘killing the American dream’ through price hikes, ‘big beautiful bill’
Here’s Why So Many Americans Hate Their Own Country: How Our Two Views of America Came from the Civil War Era
‘Like the Energizer Bunny’: Trump Takes Jobs Report Victory Lap at CNN’s Expense
Trump’s Winning So Much, Even the Establishment Can’t Help But Be in Awe at His ‘Hot Streak’
Everything comes up Trump: President scores multiple victories ahead of Fourth of July holiday
Congress tries to ban insider trading by its members
President Trump to honor Iran strike flight team at the White House
Trump pitches plan allowing farmers to vouch for illegal immigrant workers facing deportation
Despite being repeatedly rejected by voters, Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke are considering comeback bids
Can Trump make farming great again?
The 12-day war: Israel and Trump have redrawn the map of the Middle East
Colorado man sentenced to life in prison for DUI that killed Air Force veteran, injured his children
The epic, Charlton Heston, and the smallness of Hollywood
The House bill would require the State Department to produce a report within one year on the crackdown in Xinjiang.
And it would require the Commerce Department to ban US exports to entities in Xinjiang that are known to be used in the detention or surveillance of Muslim minorities, including facial recognition technology.
Republican Marco Rubio, a sponsor of the legislation in the US Senate, warned that China’s government and Communist Party “is working to systematically wipe out the ethnic and cultural identities” of Uighurs.
He applauded the House passage and said he looked forward to getting a reconciled bill to Trump’s desk.
Story cited here.
