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.
AG Blanche unveils federal charges against 160 defendants in pandemic relief sweep
Seven noncitizens charged in North Texas election-integrity investigation
Pentagon reveals secret space weapons are already in orbit — but won’t say what they do
WATCH: ‘Lifelong Democrat’ admits she is ‘ashamed’ of party after son killed in illegal immigrant crash
Karl Rove to Vote for Pro-Trans Dem After GOP Candidate Shares Texas Student Section Pic
Watch: Chiefs Used a Clever Bit of ‘Gamesmanship’ During TV Timeouts to Gain an Edge Over the Broncos
Minnesota attorney general says Somali Muslims have been defrauded by housing scheme claiming to be sharia-compliant
EXCLUSIVE: Inside Vance’s intimate Capitol Hill huddle as Republicans confront tough midterm terrain
Judge bars Kennedy Center board from putting Trump’s name on building at all
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s ‘effective altruism’ network tied to AI regulation push
Pentagon Inspector General Says Iran War Has Caused ‘Strategic Inventory Shortfalls’ of U.S. Munitions
Former CNN Host Reveals Father Beat Her Until She Was ‘Black and Blue’
Lindsay Clancy judge indefinitely impounds juror names, citing safety and ‘divisive’ attention
Army veteran paratrooper who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan before helping rescue Fox News reporter dead at 50
China expert warns Beijing wants Americans — not the CCP — to spread its message
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.
AG Blanche unveils federal charges against 160 defendants in pandemic relief sweep
Seven noncitizens charged in North Texas election-integrity investigation
Pentagon reveals secret space weapons are already in orbit — but won’t say what they do
WATCH: ‘Lifelong Democrat’ admits she is ‘ashamed’ of party after son killed in illegal immigrant crash
Karl Rove to Vote for Pro-Trans Dem After GOP Candidate Shares Texas Student Section Pic
Watch: Chiefs Used a Clever Bit of ‘Gamesmanship’ During TV Timeouts to Gain an Edge Over the Broncos
Minnesota attorney general says Somali Muslims have been defrauded by housing scheme claiming to be sharia-compliant
EXCLUSIVE: Inside Vance’s intimate Capitol Hill huddle as Republicans confront tough midterm terrain
Judge bars Kennedy Center board from putting Trump’s name on building at all
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s ‘effective altruism’ network tied to AI regulation push
Pentagon Inspector General Says Iran War Has Caused ‘Strategic Inventory Shortfalls’ of U.S. Munitions
Former CNN Host Reveals Father Beat Her Until She Was ‘Black and Blue’
Lindsay Clancy judge indefinitely impounds juror names, citing safety and ‘divisive’ attention
Army veteran paratrooper who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan before helping rescue Fox News reporter dead at 50
China expert warns Beijing wants Americans — not the CCP — to spread its message
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.
