The House of Representatives passes three Xinjiang human rights U.S

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), which prohibits any products produced by forced labor from entering the U.S. market. The House of Representatives also passed two other resolutions involving Xinjiang, condemning the Chinese government on the human rights crisis faced by the Muslim minority Mu in Xinjiang, and criticizing the International Olympic Committee for failing to abide by its commitment to defending human rights.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday (December 8) overwhelmingly passed the HR1155 "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law" with 428 votes in favor and 1 vote against it, which aims to ensure that products manufactured by forced labor in Xinjiang, China cannot enter the U.S. market. The Senate version of the bill with the same name and similar content was passed unanimously by senators from both parties in July this year.

The House of Representatives passes three Xinjiang human rights  U.S.

"The People's Republic of China is launching a brutal campaign to suppress Uyghurs and other minorities, including mass incarceration, torture and forced labor," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Wednesday. Said at a regular press conference held before the bill goes to vote. "Using these bills, the House of Representatives will crack down on such appalling conditions and expose Beijing's atrocities."

The "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law", which was jointly signed by 110 bipartisan congressmen, was developed by Democratic Federal Representative Jim McGovern (Rep. Jim McGovern, D-MA) and Republican Federal Representative Chris Smith (Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ) co-proposed.

Representative McGovern said that the Winter Olympics will be "in the midst of genocide" two months later. "Congress must do and  its best to pass this bill before the start the Olympics."

"Many of the products that people throughout the United States use every day, including clothes, food, and shoes, are manufactured through forced labor," McGovern said. "The importance of taking action couldn't be more clear."

“This is Xi Jinping’s genocide, and he is personally responsible for giving orders. Women detained in detention camps have been raped and sexually assaulted, forced abortions, and sterilized to prevent the birth of Uyghur children,” Congressman Smith said in a speech at the court meeting. "This is a direct violation of Article 2(d) of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Part of this article states that genocide includes attempts to limit the birth rate of a certain ethnic group and large-scale forced labor to benefit Chinese companies. , Gaining huge profits from modern slavery."

According to the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law," the bill will require the Department of Homeland Security to draw up a list of entities that cooperate with the Chinese government to oppress the Xinjiang Uyghur Muslim minorities, and prohibit all products produced through forced labor from entering the U.S. market .

It is worth noting that the bill will establish a “rebuttable presumption” system. Unless it is certified by the U.S. authorities without forced labor, it is assumed that all products manufactured in Xinjiang use forced labor, and therefore will The import of these products is prohibited in accordance with the 1930 Tariff Act.

The "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law" passed by the House of Representatives is different from the version passed by the Senate in July. Next, this bill faces two situations in the legislative process. In one case, the two houses coordinated the version, and then voted separately again, and the bill version with the same content was sent to the White House for the president to sign and take effect. Another possibility is that the Senate chooses to vote on the House of Representatives version again, and then the President signs it into law after it is passed.

However, as the Congress’s Christmas holiday adjournment deadline approaches, coupled with the tight schedule, there are still many bills imminent awaiting trial. Whether this bipartisan-supported bill can pass Congress as quickly as possible is still unknown.

The Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has actively promoted the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law," in the Senate, praised the House’s actions in advancing the bill, but he also worried that the House bill would follow. After being sent to the Senate, it will cause cumbersome jurisdictional issues and delay the process of the bill.

"They (the House of Representatives) passed the bill, and they realize that this rendition of the bill has had purview in the Senate before," Rubio said at a speech event in Washington on Wednesday. "My feeling is that even if they passed it today, I’m glad they are taking action, but the way they do it is to help those who are trying to prevent this bill from becoming law.”

Rubio had previously accused the Biden administration of trying to delay the passage of this bill, but the White House denied it. In order to pass this bill, Rubio included it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which delayed the progress of the National Defense Budget Authorization Act, which must be passed every year.

In addition to the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law," the House of Representatives also passed two other resolutions related to Uyghur human rights in Xinjiang, China with a high vote on Wednesday. One was proposed by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-TX, and the chief of Republican of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The content was that the U.S. Congress formally condemned the Chinese government’s ongoing genocide against Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups. Crimes against humanity" and urged the president to call on the United Nations to investigate the allegations.

Another resolution was proposed by Democratic Congressman Jennifer Wexton (Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-VA) and Republican Congressman Michael Waltz (Rep. Michael Waltz, R-FL) last week. The content of the resolution condemned the IOC's approach to the Peng Shuai incident as cooperating with the Chinese government to cover up the truth, and at the same time questioned whether the IOC has the ability to exert its leadership in the sports arena and protect the safety and rights of Olympic athletes.

These two resolutions expressing the will of the House of Representatives do not need to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced that it would not send diplomats and official delegations to the Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing in February next year, in order to fulfill the United States' commitment to "defend human rights." Some allies of the United States also announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The decision of diplomatic boycott triggered strong dissatisfaction in Beijing. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed in strong words that it would retaliate against the US decision. "The U.S. will pay the price for its wrongdoing, please wait and see," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. However, China has yet to explain what countermeasures it will take.