A resolution condemning the Government of the People's Republic of China's treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and calling for an investigation into the abuses and crimes committed in the XUAR.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 131 Condemning the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and calling for an investigation into the abuses and crimes committed in the XUAR. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. ROMNEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Condemning the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic mi- norities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and calling for an investigation into the abuses and crimes committed in the XUAR. Whereas the Uyghurs are one of several predominantly Mus- lim Turkic groups living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- mous Region (XUAR) in the northwest of the People’s Republic of China (PRC); Whereas, following Uyghur demonstrations and unrest in 2009 and clashes with government security personnel and other violent incidents in subsequent years, PRC leaders sought to ‘‘stabilize’’ the XUAR through large-scale ar- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 131 IS rests and extreme security measures aimed at combatting alleged terrorism, religious extremism, and ethnic sepa- ratism; Whereas, in May 2014, the PRC launched its ‘‘Strike Hard Against Violent Extremism’’ campaign, which placed fur- ther restrictions on and facilitated additional human rights violations against minorities in the XUAR under the pretext of fighting terrorism; Whereas, in August 2016, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member Chen Quanguo, former Tibet Autono- mous Region (TAR) Party Secretary, known for over- seeing intensifying security operations and human rights abuses in the TAR, was appointed as Party Secretary of the XUAR; Whereas, beginning in 2017, XUAR authorities have sought to forcibly ‘‘assimilate’’ Uyghurs and other Turkic mi- norities into Chinese society through a policy of cultural erasure known as ‘‘Sinicization’’; Whereas, since 2018, credible reporting including from the BBC, France24, and the New York Times has shown that the Government of the PRC has built mass intern- ment camps in the XUAR, which it calls ‘‘vocational training’’ centers, and detained Uyghurs and other groups in them and other facilities; Whereas, since 2015, XUAR authorities have arbitrarily de- tained an estimated 1,500,000 Uyghurs—12.5 percent of the XUAR’s official Uyghur population of 12,000,000— and a smaller number of other ethnic minorities in the ‘‘vocational training’’ centers and other detention and pre-detention facilities; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 131 IS Whereas, in 2017, the XUAR accounted for less than two percent of the PRC’s total population but 21 percent of all arrests in China; Whereas The Atlantic, Radio Free Asia, and other sources have revealed that detainees are forced to renounce many of their Islamic beliefs and customs and repudiate Uyghur culture, language, and identity; Whereas investigations by Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations have documented how detain- ees are subject to political indoctrination, forced labor, crowded and unsanitary conditions, involuntary biometric data collection, both medical neglect and intrusive med- ical interventions, food and water deprivation, beatings, sexual violence, and torture; Whereas research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute suggests that, since late 2019, many detainees have been placed in higher security facilities and convicted of formal crimes; Whereas Human Rights Watch has reported that the PRC uses data collection programs, including facial recognition technology, to surveil Uyghurs in the XUAR and to iden- tify individuals whom authorities may detain; Whereas PRC authorities have placed countless children whose parents are detained or in exile in state-run insti- tutions and boarding schools without the consent of their parents; Whereas New York Times reporting revealed that numerous local PRC officials who did not agree with the policies carried out in XUAR have been fired and imprisoned; Whereas Associated Press reporting documented widespread and systemic efforts by PRC authorities to force Uyghur VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 131 IS women to take contraceptives or to subject them to steri- lization or abortion, threatening to detain those who do not comply; Whereas PRC authorities prohibit family members and advo- cates inside and outside China from having regular com- munications with relatives and friends imprisoned in the XUAR, such as journalist and entrepreneur Ekpar Asat; Whereas PRC authorities have imposed pervasive restrictions on the peaceful practice of Islam in the XUAR, to the extent that Human Rights Watch asserts the PRC ‘‘has effectively outlawed the practice of Islam’’; Whereas individuals who are not detained in camps have been forced to attend political indoctrination sessions, sub- jected to movement restrictions, mass surveillance sys- tems, involuntary biometric data collection, and other human rights abuses; Whereas international media, nongovernmental organizations, scholars, families, and survivors have reported on the sys- temic nature of many of these abuses; Whereas, on June 26, 2020, a group of 50 independent United Nations experts jointly expressed alarm over Chi- na’s deteriorating human rights record, including its re- pression in Xinjiang, and called on the international com- munity ‘‘to act collectively and decisively to ensure China respects human rights and abides by its international ob- ligations’’; Whereas, on October 6, 2020, 39 United Nations member countries issued a public statement condemning human rights violations by PRC authorities and calling on the PRC to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights unfettered access to Xinjiang; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 131 IS Whereas the United States Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116– 145); Whereas the United States Congress passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), which has been used to sanction PRC officials and entities for their activities in the XUAR; Whereas the United States Government has implemented ad- ditional targeted restrictions on trade with Xinjiang and imposed visa and economic sanctions on PRC officials and entities for their activities in the XUAR; Whereas the United States Government has documented human rights abuses and violations of individual free- doms in the XUAR, including in the 2019 Department of State Report on International Religious Freedom; Whereas, on August 25, 2020, the Biden for President cam- paign stated, ‘‘The unspeakable oppression that Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have suffered at the hands of China’s authoritarian government is genocide and Joe Biden stands against it in the strongest terms.’’; Whereas, on January 19, 2021, former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ‘‘determined that the PRC, under the direction and control of the CCP, has committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang’’; Whereas, on January 19, 2021, during his confirmation hear- ing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified that ‘‘forcing men, women, and children into concentration camps, trying to in effect reeducate them to be adherents VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 131 IS to the Chinese Communist Party – all of that speaks to an effort to commit genocide’’; Whereas, on January 19, 2021, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen, during her confirmation hearing, pub- licly stated that China is guilty of ‘‘horrendous human rights abuses’’; Whereas, on January 27, 2021, in response to a question from the press regarding the Uyghurs, Secretary Blinken stated that his ‘‘judgement remains that genocide was committed against the Uyghurs’’; and Whereas, on March 10, 2021, in response to a question on Xinjiang during his testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Sec- retary Blinken reiterated, ‘‘We’ve been clear, and I’ve been clear, that I see it as genocide, other egregious abuses of human rights, and we’ll continue to make that clear.’’: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) condemns the atrocities committed by the 2 CCP against Uyghurs and other predominantly Mus- 3 lim Turkic groups in Xinjiang, including forced 4 labor, sexual violence, the internment of over 5 1,000,000 individuals, and other horrific abuses; 6 (2) urges the President, the Secretary of State, 7 and the United States Ambassador to the United 8 Nations to speak publicly about the ongoing human 9 rights abuses in the XUAR, including in formal 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 131 IS speeches at the United Nations and other inter- 1 national fora; 2 (3) urges the President, the Secretary of State, 3 and the United States Ambassador to the United 4 Nations to appeal to the United Nations Secretary- 5 General to take a more proactive and public stance 6 on the situation in the XUAR, including by sup- 7 porting calls for an investigation and accountability 8 for individuals and entities involved in abuses 9 against the people of the XUAR; 10 (4) supports continued targeted sanctions and 11 the use of all diplomatic tools available to hold those 12 responsible for the atrocities in Xinjiang to account; 13 (5) urges United States agencies engaged with 14 China on trade, climate, defense, or other bilateral 15 issues to include human rights abuses in the XUAR 16 as a consideration in developing United States pol- 17 icy; 18 (6) supports Radio Free Asia Uyghur, the only 19 Uyghur-language news service in the world inde- 20 pendent of Chinese government influence; and 21 (7) recognizes the repeated requests from the 22 United Nations High Commissioner for Human 23 Rights for unfettered access to the XUAR and the 24 PRC’s refusal to comply, and therefore— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •SRES 131 IS (A) calls on PRC authorities to allow un- 1 fettered access by the United Nations Office of 2 the High Commissioner for Human Rights to 3 the XUAR; 4 (B) urges collaborative action between the 5 United States Government and international 6 partners to pressure PRC authorities to allow 7 unfettered access to the XUAR; 8 (C) urges the President, the Secretary of 9 State, and the United States Ambassador to 10 the United Nations to simultaneously outline a 11 strategy to investigate the human rights abuses 12 and crimes that have taken place in the XUAR, 13 collect evidence, and transfer the evidence to a 14 competent court; and 15 (D) urges United States partners and al- 16 lies to undertake similar strategies in an effort 17 to build an international investigation outside of 18 the PRC if PRC authorities do not comply with 19 a United Nations investigation in the XUAR. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Mar 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR131.IS SR131 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS