January 19, 2019:
On Thursday, a group of powerful US lawmakers introduced Bills in Congress to hold China accountable for its alleged human rights violations against ethnic and religious minorities.
The legislation, introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives, seeks to provide policymakers with new tools and information to address the egregious human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist party officials and local authorities in the country's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Over a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities in the region have been interned in "political reeducation" camps and there are reports of torture and forced labour in the said camps, with a possibility of export of goods to the US market.
China has denied the allegations of human rights violations and persecution of Muslim minority groups.
The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez and in the House by Congressmen Chris Smith and Thomas Suozzi.
Menendez said the Trump administration needs to finally develop a coherent strategy for China that reflects America's values, especially given the horrific and ongoing human rights abuses committed against China's Uighur Minority.
"This legislation is an acknowledgment that we are now in a new era of strategic competition with China, and I am proud to help lead this important effort so we don't abandon our values and simply turn a blind eye as a million Muslims are unjustly imprisoned and forced into labour camps by an autocratic Chinese regime," Menendez said.
Smith said this is now one of the world's most pressing human rights challenges.
"There must be a coordinated and bipartisan response from the US and the international community that will hold Chinese officials and businesses accountable for their egregious abuses and, at the same time, will protect the US citizens and their families," Smith said.
The legislation has sought establishment of a new "double-hatted" position at the State Department (Special Coordinator for Xinjiang) while the crisis persists.
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