Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has written a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, urging them to vigorously enforce the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (UHRPA) and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). These laws, enacted in 2020 and 2021, respectively, mandate the identification and sanctioning of Chinese government officials involved in human rights abuses and forced labor of Uyghur people in the Uyghur autonomous region under China’s control.
In the letter, Chairman Gallagher emphasized the need to hold the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government accountable for its ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other human rights abuses. He called for the United States to take action and not compromise its moral leadership in engaging with Beijing.
Chairman Gallagher also pointed out reports suggesting that the State Department had delayed imposing UHRPA sanctions on Chinese officials earlier this year, potentially to appease the Chinese government. He expressed concern that the Biden administration had not imposed sanctions on those responsible for genocide and human rights abuses as required by UHRPA.
Furthermore, Chairman Gallagher demanded that Secretary Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas implement sanctions on Chinese officials and companies, starting with Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, who holds significant responsibility for the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs. He identified 37 other Chinese officials and entities that should be sanctioned under UHRPA and UFLPA and requested written explanations if any of them are not sanctioned, with a deadline of October 6, 2023.
The news was first reported by Reuter.The Uyghur Service of the Uyghur Times also briefly reported on this to inform the Uyghur community in the diaspora.
