Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to invoke cloture to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that requires federal agencies to prepare reports on China's treatment of the Uyghurs.

Highlights:

• Amends the United States policy towards the People’s Republic of China to include the situation in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, specifically as to whether (Sec. 6): 

• The mass internment of ethnic Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims in political education camps’ has ended;

• All political prisoners in the region are released;

• The use of high-tech mass-surveillance and predictive policing to discriminate against and violate human rights of members of specific ethnic groups is evident in other parts of China; and 

• The Chinese government has ended efforts aimed at cultural assimilation and particularly severe restrictions of religious practices in the region.

• Requires the president to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a list of senior Chinese government officials whom the president determines are responsible for or have knowingly engaged in serious human rights abuses against Turkic Muslims in China, no later than 120 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 7).

• Specifies that the above-mentioned list must include the following (Sec. 7):

• Senior Chinese officials, such as Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who are directly responsible for the ongoing repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and 

• The Senior Chinese officials responsible for mass incarceration, political indoctrination, or reeducation efforts targeting Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. 

• Requires the president to impose sanctions described in the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with respect to any foreign person the president has identified, on the date that they submit the above-mentioned list to the appropriate congressional committees (Sec. 7).

• Authorizes the president to waive the imposition of sanctions if the president determines that such a waiver is in the interest of US national security and they submit a justification for the waiver to the appropriate congressional committees (Sec. 7).

• Specifies that the authorities and requirements to impose sanctions authorized under this act do not include the authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods (Sec. 7).

• Requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant federal departments and agencies, to submit a report on human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the appropriate congressional committees and make it publically available on the State Department website, no later than 180 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 8).

• Specifies that the above-mentioned human rights report must include the following (Sec. 8):

• An assessment of the number of individuals detained in political “reeducation camps” in the region and conditions in the camp for detainees, including an assessment of whether detainees endure torture, efforts at forced renunciation of their faith, and other mistreatment; 

• An assessment of the number of individuals in the region in highly controlled forced labor camps;

• A description of the methods used by China to “reeducate” Uyghur detainees, including an identification of the Chinese agencies in charge of such reeducation;

• An assessment of the use and nature of forced labor in and related to the detention of Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and a description of foreign companies and industries benefitting from such labor in the region; 

• An assessment of the level of access to the region Chinese authorities grant to foreign diplomats and consular agents, independent journalists, and representatives of non-governmental organizations;

• An assessment of the surveillance, detection, and control methods used by Chinese authorities in the region; and 

• A description of diplomatic efforts by US allies and other nations to address the gross violations of universally recognized human rights in the region and to protect asylum seekers from the region.

• Requires the president to, no later than 120 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 9):

• Identify items that provide a critical capability of the Chinese government to suppress individual privacy, freedom of movement, and other basic human rights, especially through: 

• Surveillance, interception, and restriction of communications;

• Monitoring of individual location or movement, or restricting individual movement;

• Monitoring or restricting access to and use of the Internet;

• Monitoring or restricting the use of social media; 

• Identification of individuals through facial recognition, voice recognition, or biometric indicators;

• Detection of individuals who are exercising basic human rights; and 

• Forced labor in manufacturing; 

• Include items identified in subparagraph (A) of the Commerce Control List in a category separate from other items, pursuant to the Export Control Act of 2018.

• Requires the president to require a license or other authorization for the export, re-export, or in-country transfer to or within China of an item identified on the Commerce Control List, no later than 180 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that it is US policy to seek to harmonize US export control regulations with international export control regimes, including through the Wassenaar Arrangement and other bilateral and multilateral mechanisms involving countries that export certain items that provide a critical capability to the Chinese government to suppress individual privacy, freedom, and other basic human rights (Sec. 9).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass with amendment a bill that requires federal agencies to prepare reports on China's treatment of the Uyghurs.

Highlights:

• Amends the United States policy towards the People’s Republic of China to include the situation in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, specifically as to whether (Sec. 6): 

• The mass internment of ethnic Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims in political education camps’ has ended;

• All political prisoners in the region are released;

• The use of high-tech mass-surveillance and predictive policing to discriminate against and violate human rights of members of specific ethnic groups is evident in other parts of China; and 

• The Chinese government has ended efforts aimed at cultural assimilation and particularly severe restrictions of religious practices in the region.

• Requires the president to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a list of senior Chinese government officials whom the president determines are responsible for or have knowingly engaged in serious human rights abuses against Turkic Muslims in China, no later than 120 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 7).

• Specifies that the above-mentioned list must include the following (Sec. 7):

• Senior Chinese officials, such as Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who are directly responsible for the ongoing repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and 

• The Senior Chinese officials responsible for mass incarceration, political indoctrination, or reeducation efforts targeting Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. 

• Requires the president to impose sanctions described in the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with respect to any foreign person the president has identified, on the date that they submit the above-mentioned list to the appropriate congressional committees (Sec. 7).

• Authorizes the president to waive the imposition of sanctions if the president determines that such a waiver is in the interest of US national security and they submit a justification for the waiver to the appropriate congressional committees (Sec. 7).

• Specifies that the authorities and requirements to impose sanctions authorized under this act do not include the authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods (Sec. 7).

• Requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the heads of other relevant federal departments and agencies, to submit a report on human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the appropriate congressional committees and make it publically available on the State Department website, no later than 180 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 8).

• Specifies that the above-mentioned human rights report must include the following (Sec. 8):

• An assessment of the number of individuals detained in political “reeducation camps” in the region and conditions in the camp for detainees, including an assessment of whether detainees endure torture, efforts at forced renunciation of their faith, and other mistreatment; 

• An assessment of the number of individuals in the region in highly controlled forced labor camps;

• A description of the methods used by China to “reeducate” Uyghur detainees, including an identification of the Chinese agencies in charge of such reeducation;

• An assessment of the use and nature of forced labor in and related to the detention of Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and a description of foreign companies and industries benefitting from such labor in the region; 

• An assessment of the level of access to the region Chinese authorities grant to foreign diplomats and consular agents, independent journalists, and representatives of non-governmental organizations;

• An assessment of the surveillance, detection, and control methods used by Chinese authorities in the region; and 

• A description of diplomatic efforts by US allies and other nations to address the gross violations of universally recognized human rights in the region and to protect asylum seekers from the region.

• Requires the president to, no later than 120 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 9):

• Identify items that provide a critical capability of the Chinese government to suppress individual privacy, freedom of movement, and other basic human rights, especially through: 

• Surveillance, interception, and restriction of communications;

• Monitoring of individual location or movement, or restricting individual movement;

• Monitoring or restricting access to and use of the Internet;

• Monitoring or restricting the use of social media; 

• Identification of individuals through facial recognition, voice recognition, or biometric indicators;

• Detection of individuals who are exercising basic human rights; and 

• Forced labor in manufacturing; 

• Include items identified in subparagraph (A) of the Commerce Control List in a category separate from other items, pursuant to the Export Control Act of 2018.

• Requires the president to require a license or other authorization for the export, re-export, or in-country transfer to or within China of an item identified on the Commerce Control List, no later than 180 days after this bill’s date of enactment (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that it is US policy to seek to harmonize US export control regulations with international export control regimes, including through the Wassenaar Arrangement and other bilateral and multilateral mechanisms involving countries that export certain items that provide a critical capability to the Chinese government to suppress individual privacy, freedom, and other basic human rights (Sec. 9).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text