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.
Panama Canal Braces for Rise in Traffic Amid Iran War
More Americans Make This Money Move in Possible Sign of Economic Woes
String of attacks connected to naturalized citizens raises national security questions
Soros Prosecutor Blames Republicans After Convicted ISIS Supporter Opens Fire At Old Dominion University
Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program
Latino voters are ‘no longer sleeping,’ Univision president warns GOP, Dems
It Took CNN Analyst Only 15 Minutes to Suggest Trump Incited Michigan Synagogue Attack
Hero ROTC Cadet Stabbed ISIS-Inspired Shooter To Death, Saving Lives
Airline CEOs torch lawmakers for turning air travel into a ‘political football’
Brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was Hezbollah commander, Israel alleges
Dems Are Using the Filibuster to Keep the SAVE America Act at Bay
‘President Trump Is Ending It’: Mike Waltz Erupts At NBC Host Over Iran
Daughter of George W. Bush’s Top Intel Official Has Been Hit With Long Prison Sentence for Murder
Rising gas prices from Iran conflict put GOP on defense after previous Biden attacks
Pink Tie Party gives platform for local DC designers
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.
Panama Canal Braces for Rise in Traffic Amid Iran War
More Americans Make This Money Move in Possible Sign of Economic Woes
String of attacks connected to naturalized citizens raises national security questions
Soros Prosecutor Blames Republicans After Convicted ISIS Supporter Opens Fire At Old Dominion University
Top California librarian questioned about missing $650K tied to Dolly Parton child literacy program
Latino voters are ‘no longer sleeping,’ Univision president warns GOP, Dems
It Took CNN Analyst Only 15 Minutes to Suggest Trump Incited Michigan Synagogue Attack
Hero ROTC Cadet Stabbed ISIS-Inspired Shooter To Death, Saving Lives
Airline CEOs torch lawmakers for turning air travel into a ‘political football’
Brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was Hezbollah commander, Israel alleges
Dems Are Using the Filibuster to Keep the SAVE America Act at Bay
‘President Trump Is Ending It’: Mike Waltz Erupts At NBC Host Over Iran
Daughter of George W. Bush’s Top Intel Official Has Been Hit With Long Prison Sentence for Murder
Rising gas prices from Iran conflict put GOP on defense after previous Biden attacks
Pink Tie Party gives platform for local DC designers
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.
