Sec. 4. Findings

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Congress makes the following findings: The Government of the People’s Republic of China has a long history of repressing approximately 13,000,000 Turkic, moderate Sunni Muslims, particularly Uyghurs, in the nominally autonomous Xinjiang region. These actions are in contravention of international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In recent decades, central and regional Chinese government policies have systematically discriminated against Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang by denying them a range of civil and political rights, including the freedoms of expression, religion, movement, and a fair trial, among others.

Increased unrest in the Xinjiang region as a result of the central government’s severe repression is used in Orwellian fashion by the Government of the People’s Republic of China as evidence of terrorism and separatism and as an excuse for further disproportionate response. In 2014, Chinese authorities launched their latest Strike Hard against Violent Extremism campaign, in which the pretext of wide-scale, internationally linked threats of terrorism were used to justify pervasive restrictions on, and gross human rights violations against, the ethnic minority communities of Xinjiang.

Those policies included— pervasive, high-tech surveillance across the region, including the arbitrary collection of biodata, such as DNA samples from children, without their knowledge or consent; the use of QR codes outside homes to gather information on how frequently individuals pray; facial and voice recognition software and predictive policing databases; and severe restrictions on the freedom of movement across the region. Chinese security forces have never been held accountable for credible reports of mass shootings in Alaqagha (2014), Hanerik (2013), and Siriqbuya (2013), as well as the extrajudicial killings of Abdulbasit Ablimit

(2013)and Rozi Osman (2014). The August 2016 transfer of former Tibet Autonomous Region Party Secretary Chen Quanguo to become the Xinjiang Party Secretary prompted an acceleration in the crackdown across the region. Local officials in Xinjiang have used chilling political rhetoric to describe the purpose of government policy, including eradicating tumors and spray[ing] chemicals on crops to kill the weeds . Uyghurs are forced to celebrate Chinese cultural traditions, such as Chinese New Year, and unique Uyghur culture is facing eradication due to state control over Uyghur cultural heritage, such as muqam (a musical tradition) and meshrep (traditional cultural gatherings), and due to elimination of the Uyghur language as a medium of instruction in Xinjiang schools and universities. In 2017, credible reports found that family members of Uyghurs living outside of China had gone missing inside China, that Chinese authorities were pressuring those outside the country to return, and that individuals were being arbitrarily detained in large numbers. There is ample credible evidence provided by scholars, human rights organizations, journalists, and think tanks substantiating the establishment by Chinese authorities of political reeducation camps. Independent organizations conducted interviews, including testimonies from Kayrat Samarkan, Omir Bekali, and Mihrigul Tursun, along with others who had been detained in such facilities, who described forced political indoctrination, torture, beatings, food deprivation, and solitary confinement, as well as uncertainty as to the length of detention, humiliation, and denial of religious, cultural, and linguistic freedoms, and confirmed that they were told by guards that the only way to secure release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty. Poor conditions and lack of medical treatment at such facilities appear to have contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the elderly and infirm. Uyghurs Muhammed Salih Hajim (2018), Yaqupjan Naman (2018), Abdughappar Abdujappar (2018), Ayhan Memet (2018), Abdulreshit Seley Hajim (2018), Nurimangul Memet (2018), Adalet Teyip (2018), Abdulehed Mehsum (2017), Hesen Imin (2017), and Sawut Raxman

(2017)reportedly died while in the custody of the Chinese authorities in political reeducation camps, without proper investigation of the circumstances. Uyghurs and Kazakhs, who have now obtained permanent residence or citizenship in other countries, attest to receiving threats and harassment from Chinese officials. Under pressure from the Government of the People's Republic of China, countries have forcibly returned Uyghurs to China in violation of the non-refoulement principle and their well-founded fear of persecution. States returning Uyghurs include Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and India. Six journalists for Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur service have publicly detailed abuses their family members in Xinjiang have endured in response to their work exposing abusive policies across the region. Several United States-based companies are conducting business with Xinjiang authorities without sufficient due diligence or safeguards to ensure their business operations do not create or contribute to human rights violations. The Government of the People’s Republic of China is increasingly investing in the Belt and Road Initiative across Xinjiang and throughout Central Asia, extending its influence through organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization without regard to the political, religious, cultural, or linguistic rights of ethnic minorities. The Secretary of State, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and individual members of the executive branch and Congress have all expressed growing concern regarding the pervasive human rights abuses across Xinjiang and the political reeducation camps. In August 2018, the United Nations Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination challenged the Government of the People’s Republic of China over abuses in Xinjiang, including the establishment of mass arbitrary detention camps. Between August and September 2018, Chinese authorities responded to these allegations by either flatly denying them or insisting that the facilities are vocational training centers . In September 2018, newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet noted in her first speech as High Commissioner the deeply disturbing allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and other Muslim communities, in so-called re-education camps across Xinjiang . On September 18, 2018, the Washington Post editorial board wrote, At stake is not just the welfare of the Uighurs, but also whether the technologies of the 21st century will be employed to smother human freedom. In December 2018 testimony before the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Busby testified that the number of those detained in camps since April 2017 was at least 800,000 and possibly more than 2 million . In December 2018, independent media reports pointed to growing evidence of forced labor in the camps, as well as reports of individuals who have been released from camps being forced to labor in nearby factories for low wages under threat of being sent back to political reeducation camps. In December 2018 and January 2019, Chinese officials organized visits to political reeducation camps in Xinjiang for a small group of foreign journalists and diplomats from 12 non-Western countries. In the months preceding the visits, international media reported that officials worked to remove security features from some political reeducation facilities, and coached detainees and area residents not to make negative comments about the camps. Reports also indicated that officials had transferred large numbers of detainees to detention facilities in other parts of China. Experts have described the Xinjiang region as a police state to rival North Korea, with a formalized racism on the order of South African apartheid and the repression in the Xinjiang region as a slow motion Tiananmen . On December 31, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 ( Public Law 105–409 ), which condemned China’s forced disappearances, extralegal detentions, invasive and omnipresent surveillance, and lack of due process in judicial proceedings, authorized funding to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in China, and supported sanctions designations against any entity or individual that— violates human rights or religious freedoms; or engages in censorship activities.

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Pub. L. 105-409

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Sec. 4

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 105-409

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