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.
Trump blames ‘VANDALS’ for damaging National Mall grass after World War II Memorial graffiti
Tupac Shakur murder trial kicks off as Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis faces jury nearly three decades after shooting
Texas Man Kills Alleged Intruder in Shootout – Police Say Suspect Had a Protective Order Filed Against Him
Cops Address Foul Play Questions After Actress Hayden Panettiere Found Dead at Age 36
US awards Raytheon $22.9B Tomahawk deal as Trump dismisses weapons stockpile concerns
Actress Hayden Panettiere dies suddenly at age 36 and more top headlines
CEO says doing business in state ‘sucks’ as company heads to Texas amid California exodus
Far-left politicians still using ActBlue as 88-year-old disputes donating nearly $150,000 to fundraising giant
As Pelosi’s exit nears, San Francisco Democratic candidates fight over what comes next
Russell Fry endorses ex-rival Darline Graham after failing to advance to special GOP US Senate primary runoff
Homeland Security investigated Minnesota labor unions as part of ‘terrorist financing’ probe in anti-ICE antifa case: Court documents
Trump blames vandals for dead grass on National Mall where he hosted 4th of July celebration
NYPD officers fatally shoot man armed with butcher knife after he advanced toward cops: police
Louisiana man accused of killing wife, propping her body up for multistate drive
Todd Blanche backs Jeanine Pirro after Lincoln Memorial pool vandalism case dismissal
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.
Trump blames ‘VANDALS’ for damaging National Mall grass after World War II Memorial graffiti
Tupac Shakur murder trial kicks off as Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis faces jury nearly three decades after shooting
Texas Man Kills Alleged Intruder in Shootout – Police Say Suspect Had a Protective Order Filed Against Him
Cops Address Foul Play Questions After Actress Hayden Panettiere Found Dead at Age 36
US awards Raytheon $22.9B Tomahawk deal as Trump dismisses weapons stockpile concerns
Actress Hayden Panettiere dies suddenly at age 36 and more top headlines
CEO says doing business in state ‘sucks’ as company heads to Texas amid California exodus
Far-left politicians still using ActBlue as 88-year-old disputes donating nearly $150,000 to fundraising giant
As Pelosi’s exit nears, San Francisco Democratic candidates fight over what comes next
Russell Fry endorses ex-rival Darline Graham after failing to advance to special GOP US Senate primary runoff
Homeland Security investigated Minnesota labor unions as part of ‘terrorist financing’ probe in anti-ICE antifa case: Court documents
Trump blames vandals for dead grass on National Mall where he hosted 4th of July celebration
NYPD officers fatally shoot man armed with butcher knife after he advanced toward cops: police
Louisiana man accused of killing wife, propping her body up for multistate drive
Todd Blanche backs Jeanine Pirro after Lincoln Memorial pool vandalism case dismissal
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.
