[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 minorities 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 Muslim Turkic groups living 
        in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous 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 
        arrests and extreme security measures aimed at combatting alleged 
        terrorism, religious extremism, and ethnic separatism;
Whereas, in May 2014, the PRC launched its ``Strike Hard Against Violent 
        Extremism'' campaign, which placed further 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 Autonomous Region (TAR) Party Secretary, known for 
        overseeing 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 minorities 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 internment 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 detained 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;
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 detainees are subject to political 
        indoctrination, forced labor, crowded and unsanitary conditions, 
        involuntary biometric data collection, both medical neglect and 
        intrusive medical 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 identify individuals whom authorities may detain;
Whereas PRC authorities have placed countless children whose parents are 
        detained or in exile in state-run institutions 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 women to take contraceptives or to 
        subject them to sterilization or abortion, threatening to detain those 
        who do not comply;
Whereas PRC authorities prohibit family members and advocates inside and outside 
        China from having regular communications 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, subjected to movement restrictions, 
        mass surveillance systems, involuntary biometric data collection, and 
        other human rights abuses;
Whereas international media, nongovernmental organizations, scholars, families, 
        and survivors have reported on the systemic nature of many of these 
        abuses;
Whereas, on June 26, 2020, a group of 50 independent United Nations experts 
        jointly expressed alarm over China's deteriorating human rights record, 
        including its repression in Xinjiang, and called on the international 
        community ``to act collectively and decisively to ensure China respects 
        human rights and abides by its international obligations'';
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;
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 additional 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 freedoms in the XUAR, including in the 2019 
        Department of State Report on International Religious Freedom;
Whereas, on August 25, 2020, the Biden for President campaign 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 hearing, Secretary of 
        State Antony Blinken testified that ``forcing men, women, and children 
        into concentration camps, trying to in effect reeducate them to be 
        adherents 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, publicly 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, Secretary 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) condemns the atrocities committed by the CCP against 
        Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim Turkic groups in 
        Xinjiang, including forced labor, sexual violence, the 
        internment of over 1,000,000 individuals, and other horrific 
        abuses;
            (2) urges the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        United States Ambassador to the United Nations to speak 
        publicly about the ongoing human rights abuses in the XUAR, 
        including in formal speeches at the United Nations and other 
        international fora;
            (3) urges the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
        United States Ambassador to the United Nations to appeal to the 
        United Nations Secretary-General to take a more proactive and 
        public stance on the situation in the XUAR, including by 
        supporting calls for an investigation and accountability for 
        individuals and entities involved in abuses against the people 
        of the XUAR;
            (4) supports continued targeted sanctions and the use of 
        all diplomatic tools available to hold those responsible for 
        the atrocities in Xinjiang to account;
            (5) urges United States agencies engaged with China on 
        trade, climate, defense, or other bilateral issues to include 
        human rights abuses in the XUAR as a consideration in 
        developing United States policy;
            (6) supports Radio Free Asia Uyghur, the only Uyghur-
        language news service in the world independent of Chinese 
        government influence; and
            (7) recognizes the repeated requests from the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for unfettered 
        access to the XUAR and the PRC's refusal to comply, and 
        therefore--
                    (A) calls on PRC authorities to allow unfettered 
                access by the United Nations Office of the High 
                Commissioner for Human Rights to the XUAR;
                    (B) urges collaborative action between the United 
                States Government and international partners to 
                pressure PRC authorities to allow unfettered access to 
                the XUAR;
                    (C) urges the President, the Secretary of State, 
                and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations 
                to simultaneously outline a strategy to investigate the 
                human rights abuses and crimes that have taken place in 
                the XUAR, collect evidence, and transfer the evidence 
                to a competent court; and
                    (D) urges United States partners and allies to 
                undertake similar strategies in an effort to build an 
                international investigation outside of the PRC if PRC 
                authorities do not comply with a United Nations 
                investigation in the XUAR.
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