“U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) has released four letters—three to U.S.-based tourism companies and one to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken—to raise concerns about corporate complicity in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) efforts to encourage tourism to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR),” CECC writes on its website.
“Tourism [to the region] white-washes the atrocities committed against Uyghurs and other minorities and puts a happy face on genocide. U.S. companies should not be complicit in this effort, marketing Beijing-controlled tours to U.S. citizens and other foreigners,” the letter says.
“Instead, the U.S. and its allies should be demanding unfettered access for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, and long-banned experts on the region to conduct investigations of past and ongoing atrocities and other gross violations of human rights, such as forced labor,” the letter adds.
Image: Dominic Galeon on Unsplash
