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.
Before One of Charlie Kirk’s Final Speeches, He Was Warned Not to Talk About Christianity – That Was All the Motivation He Needed
False Moderates, Part 4: AOC’s Presidential Ambitions Could Threaten American Liberty
Newsom says Biden, Clinton, and Harris were too insulated; urges Democrats to get out of their bubble
9/11 Museum unveils exhibition for generation too young to remember the attacks: ‘Called everybody to lead’
America’s reddest state chases billion-dollar boom as others sour on massive emerging industry
Walz warned about African official operating Minnesota group homes from overseas
Teen boater found clinging to capsized vessel after 3 go missing; 2 bodies recovered
Ex-NFL cheerleader battles former gubernatorial aide in tight GOP primary race
Five takeaways from opening night of first-ever GOP midterm convention
Trump makes stunning first-of-its-kind cash promise in bid to rally GOP voters at Dallas midterm convention
Trump electrifies his base, but the nosebleeds are empty. Is it enough to win the midterms?
Fetterman teases where his true loyalty lies after surprise appearance at GOP convention
EXCLUSIVE: 25 years after 9/11, ICE says more than 2K known or suspected terrorists have been deported
Trump makes convention pitch for Paxton: You may not like his looks, but he’s the best AG in Texas history
US forces obliterate suspected ‘narco-terrorist’ vessel in lethal Eastern Pacific strike, killing 3
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.
Before One of Charlie Kirk’s Final Speeches, He Was Warned Not to Talk About Christianity – That Was All the Motivation He Needed
False Moderates, Part 4: AOC’s Presidential Ambitions Could Threaten American Liberty
Newsom says Biden, Clinton, and Harris were too insulated; urges Democrats to get out of their bubble
9/11 Museum unveils exhibition for generation too young to remember the attacks: ‘Called everybody to lead’
America’s reddest state chases billion-dollar boom as others sour on massive emerging industry
Walz warned about African official operating Minnesota group homes from overseas
Teen boater found clinging to capsized vessel after 3 go missing; 2 bodies recovered
Ex-NFL cheerleader battles former gubernatorial aide in tight GOP primary race
Five takeaways from opening night of first-ever GOP midterm convention
Trump makes stunning first-of-its-kind cash promise in bid to rally GOP voters at Dallas midterm convention
Trump electrifies his base, but the nosebleeds are empty. Is it enough to win the midterms?
Fetterman teases where his true loyalty lies after surprise appearance at GOP convention
EXCLUSIVE: 25 years after 9/11, ICE says more than 2K known or suspected terrorists have been deported
Trump makes convention pitch for Paxton: You may not like his looks, but he’s the best AG in Texas history
US forces obliterate suspected ‘narco-terrorist’ vessel in lethal Eastern Pacific strike, killing 3
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.
