Bicameral Bill Would Expand Sanctions for Rights Abuses Against China's Uyghurs
A bipartisan, bicameral group of five lawmakers announced July 31 that they have introduced a wide-ranging bill to protect China’s Uyghur minority ethnic group, including by broadening sanctions authorities under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 to cover forced organ harvesting, coercive abortion and the forced separation of children from their families.
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The Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act also would require the Treasury Department to determine whether seven Chinese companies, including ByteDance and Hikvision, should be sanctioned for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, are offering the legislation along with Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. Sullivan said the 29-page bill is needed to counter China’s “deliberate and systematic campaign to destroy the Uyghur people.”
The announcement came two days after Merkley and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would direct the Office of Foreign Assets Control to determine whether to sanction foreign officials involved in the forced deportation of Uyghurs to China (see 2507300057).