Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleA bill to condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture, and harassment of these communities inside and outside China.
NicknamesUyghur Act
Announced inthe 116th United States Congress
Number of co-sponsors44
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as S. 178 by Marco Rubio (R-FL) on January 17, 2019
  • Committee consideration by Senate Foreign Relations, House Foreign Affairs, House Intelligence, House Judiciary
  • Passed the Senate on September 11, 2019 (Unanimous consent)
  • Passed the House as the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act of 2019 on December 3, 2019 (407-1) with amendment
  • Senate agreed to House amendment on May 14, 2020 (Unanimous consent) with further amendment
  • House agreed to Senate amendment on May 27, 2020 (413-1)

The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (formerly Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019) is a bill in the United States Congress that would require various United States government bodies to report on the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, including internment in the Xinjiang re-education camps.[1][2]

On September 11, 2019, a version of the bill was passed in the United States Senate by unanimous consent.[3][4][5] On December 3, 2019, a stronger version of the bill was passed by the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 407 to 1.[2] The revised bill was approved by the United States Senate on May 14, 2020.[2][4][6] On May 27, 2020, The House of Representatives voted 413-1 and passed the amended bill, sending it to President Trump for approval.[7]

Legislative history

On September 11, 2019, a version of the bill—S. 178, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019—passed in the United States Senate by unanimous consent.[4][5][8]

On December 3, 2019, a stronger, amended version of the bill—the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act (UIGHUR Act)—was passed by the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 407 to 1.[2][9][4][10] The sole "no" vote was cast by Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky.[10]

On the afternoon of May 14, 2020, a new version of the bill—S. 3744, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 passed in the United States Senate by unanimous consent.[11] The House of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 413-1 on May 27, 2020.[7]

Legislation

The bill would direct the Director of National Intelligence to report to Congress on security issues caused by the Chinese government's reported crackdown on Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report on efforts to protect Uyghurs and Chinese nationals in the United States, the U.S. Agency for Global Media to report on Chinese media related issues in Xinjiang, and for the United States Department of State to report on the scope of the reported Chinese government crackdown on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.[1]

The bill would also call on United States President Donald Trump to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act on Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, which would be the first time such sanctions would be imposed on a member of China's politburo.[12][13]

Reactions

Domestic

Editorials in The New York Times and The Washington Post supported the passage of the Act.[14][15] Opinion pieces written in various publications also supported the passage of the Act.[16]

International

A World Uyghur Congress spokesman said on December 3, 2019 that the House bill is important in opposing "China's continued push of extreme persecution" and that the organization looks forward to President Trump signing the bill.[12][17] Uyghur activists, think tank analysts and political representatives called on various governments to sanction Mainland Chinese officials for their perceived involvement in the Xinjiang conflict.[18]

The Chinese government have called the bill a malicious attack on China and demanded that the United States prevent it from becoming law, warning that it would act to defend its interests as necessary.[12] On December 4, 2019, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the bill "wantonly smeared China's counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts".[2] On December 8, 2019, Minfeng/Niya County (in eastern Hotan Prefecture, southern Xinjiang) County Communist Party Committee Vice Secretary (委副书记) and County Magistrate (县长) Aizezi Aili (艾则孜·艾力) and Kashgar Prefecture Communist Party Committee Vice Secretary and Commissioner (喀什地委副书记、行署专员) Pa'erhati Rouzi (帕尔哈提·肉孜) penned criticisms of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.[19][20] The claim of deradicalization drew criticism in an article by the Deccan Chronicle[21] while an article written by Srikanth Kondapalli made criticisms of the PRC's grand strategy for Xinjiang.[22]

Analysts cited in an article by Reuters said that Mainland China's response to passage of the Uyghur bill could be stronger than its reaction to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act[12] while the BBC's China correspondent said that if the bill became law, then it would mark the most significant international attempt to pressure Mainland China over its mass detention of the Uyghurs.[17]

On December 6, 2019, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates defended China's actions in Xinjiang in response to the passage of the act, stating that it is a "blatant interference by the US in the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China." The statement concluded that “Syria emphasises the right of China to preserve its sovereignty, people, territorial integrity, and security and protect the security and property of the state and individuals.”[23]

In June 2020, co-founder of the Uyghur Human Rights Project Nury Turkel, said that the US government must use the new bill to impose sanctions on Chinese officials for religious persecution. He also urged Congress to pass a second bill, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would direct the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to presume that any goods produced in the Uyghur region are the product of forced labor.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "H.R.649 - Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019". United States Congress. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Westcott, Ben; Byrd, Haley (December 3, 2019). "US House passes Uyghur Act calling for tough sanctions on Beijing over Xinjiang camps". CNN. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "Actions Overview S.178 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)". United States Congress. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d "Uyghur bill demanding sanctions on Chinese officials passes US House of Representatives". ABC News. December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Lipes, Joshua (September 12, 2019). "US Senate Passes Legislation to Hold China Accountable for Rights Abuses in Xinjiang". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  6. ^ Byrd, Haley (May 14, 2020). "Senate approves Uyghur human rights bill". CNN. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "House Passes Uighur Human Rights Bill, Prodding Trump to Punish China". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  8. ^ S.178 - Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019, 116th Congress (2019-2020) Archived December 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Congress.gov.
  9. ^ "Anger in China as US House passes Uighur crackdown bill". Al Jazeera. December 3, 2019. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Roll Call Vote No. 644 Archived December 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Clerk of the United States House of Representative (December 2, 2019).
  11. ^ Haley Byrd (May 14, 2020). "Senate approves Uyghur human rights bill". CNN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d Lee, Se Young; Brunnstrom, David (December 3, 2019). "Trump comments, Uighur bill hurt prospects of U.S.-China deal". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  13. ^ Flatley, Daniel (December 4, 2019). "U.S. House Passes Xinjiang Bill, Prompting Threat From China". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  14. ^ "China's Brutal 'Boarding Schools'". NYT. NYT. March 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  15. ^ "What Congress can do now to combat China's mass ethnic cleansing of Uighurs". Washington Post. Washington Post. May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Meanwhile, bipartisan legislation aimed at holding the Chinese accountable, sponsored by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), has cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is in committee in the House. Hopefully it will pass both chambers soon.
  16. ^ Sources include:
  17. ^ a b "China sanctions: US House passes bill over treatment of Uighurs". BBC. BBC. December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  18. ^ Sources include
  19. ^ 艾则孜·艾力 (December 8, 2019). 李梦婷 (ed.). "Archived copy" 坚决不允许美国蓄意诋毁和抹黑新疆的人权状况. Xinhua News Agency (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ 帕尔哈提·肉孜 (December 8, 2019). "Archived copy" 新疆维吾尔人权状况不容诋毁. 英吉沙县人民政府门户网站 (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ "'De-radicalising' Uighur Muslims: Is the Chinese action justified?". Deccan Chronicle. Dawn. December 18, 2019. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019. Calling the US action a political move aimed at damaging its international image, China says it is running a deradicalisation programme to mainstream its communities. The Chinese claim has not been verified by independent sources and mystery shrouds its deradicalisation or re-education programme. China needs to demonstrate to the international community that it has inserted human rights safeguards in its deradicalisation measures ... It is interesting that at a time when exclusionism, supremacism, and hyper-nationalism tendencies are globally on the rise, China has decided to launch its own version of 'harmonising' society. This thinking might appear to negate the global trends but in essence, its objectives are similar, and it has little space for accepting diversity.
  22. ^ Kondapalli, Srikanth (December 8, 2019). "'No Mercy' for the Uighurs". Deccan Herald. Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  23. ^ "Syria defends China's Uyghur policy after US condemnation". Middle East Monitor. December 6, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  24. ^ "The U.S. Must Use the New Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to Sanction Chinese Officials for Religious Persecution". Time. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  25. ^ Nury Turkel (June 8, 2020). "The U.S. Must Use the New Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to Sanction Chinese Officials for Religious Persecution". TIME. Retrieved June 11, 2020.

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