Sending Office: Honorable Susan Wild
Sent By:
Zach.Fowler@mail.house.gov
Co-Signers: Rep. Susan Wild,
Rep. Ann Wagner, Rep. Jackie Speier, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton,
Rep. John Curtis, Rep. James P. McGovern, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Rep. Chris Pappas, Rep. Brad Sherman,
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Rep. Denny Heck
Dear Colleague,
Please join us in sending a letter to Secretaries Ross and Pompeo regarding the Chinese government’s targeting and mass detention of more than a million Uyghur Muslims in internment
camps.
The letter applauds the Department of Commerce’s decision to preclude U.S. companies from exporting high-tech equipment to eight (8) Chinese companies whose products are used to surveil
Uyghur Muslims in China. Past technology transfers have included facial recognition technology that has further exacerbated this humanitarian abuse.
The letter affirms that ending humanitarian abuse is of central importance to the future bilateral trade relationship between the U.S. and China, and it asks that the export blacklist
not be bargained away in any trade deal without verified proof that China will end its persecution of Uyghur Muslims and release its detainees.
The letter also urges the Department of State to impose Magnitsky Act sanctions against the Chinese government, Communist Party officials, and others who are complicit in these abuses.
The full text of the letter is set forth below. Please contact Zach Fowler (Zach.Fowler@mail.house.gov) of Rep. Wild’s office or David Gans (David.Gans@mail.house.gov) of Rep. Wagner’s office to become a co-signer on this letter.
Sincerely,
Susan Wild Ann Wagner
Member of Congress Member of Congress
November ___, 2019
Department of Commerce Department of State
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo
1401 Constitution Ave NW 2201 C St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20230 Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Secretary Ross and Secretary Pompeo,
We, the undersigned Members of Congress, commend the Commerce Department’s decision to preclude United States companies from exporting high-tech equipment to eight Chinese companies
whose products are used to surveil Uyghur Muslims in China.[1]
It is believed that past technology transfers have included facial recognition technology, which the Chinese government has used to target more than a million people because of their religion. We likewise applaud the decision to put twenty Chinese governmental
agencies and eighteen municipal and county bureaus on the Commerce Department’s “Entities List.”[2]
These decisions send a clear message to China that ending humanitarian abuse, including the targeting and mass detention of more than a million Uyghur Muslims in internment camps (sometimes
referred to as “political education centers”), is of central importance to the future bilateral trade relationship between the United States and China. We have heard reports from the White House that the parties have reached a “phase one deal,” but we ask
that the export blacklist and new “Entities List” not be bargained away in any finalized deal without verified proof that China will end its persecution of Uyghur Muslims and release its detainees.
We also write to urge the State Department to follow the example set by the Commerce Department and treat the Uyghur Muslim issue with the attention it deserves because the effects
of this issue have already reached our communities in real, tangible ways. Human Rights Watch has said that the Chinese abuses are of a “scope and scale not seen in China since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.”[3]
There are constituents across the United States that have family members in China being detained for no reason other than the peaceful practice of their faith, and there are serious ongoing concerns about those family members’ health, welfare, and access to
medical treatment.
Despite clear evidence, the administration has not imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act related to these human rights abuses, ignoring the repeated urging of Members of
Congress. We urge you to impose targeted sanctions against the Chinese government, Communist Party officials, and other people and entities complicit in these abuses without delay.
Additionally, we ask that the State Department provide an update to Congress on the nature and extent of China’s crackdown on human rights defenders, such as non-governmental organizations,
volunteers, journalists, lawyers, religious leaders, activists, and public health officials, who are trying to advocate on behalf of the persecuted Uyghur population. It is important to know what steps have been taken by the State Department and/or other
global strategic partners to assist those groups, particularly public health officials, in gaining access to Uyghur Muslim internment camps and reporting on conditions. Any additional information about the conditions of internment camps is important to our
constituents and to inform what steps Congress needs to take in the future.
Your prompt attention to this correspondence is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Susan Wild Ann Wagner
Member of Congress Member of Congress
[1]
The eight companies include: Dahua Technology, Hikvision, IFLYTEK, Megvii Technology, Sense Time, Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co. Ltd., Yitu Technologies, and Yixin Science and Technology Co. Ltd.
[2]
See Trump administration blacklists Chinese firms linked to surveillance of Uighur minority, Politico October 7, 2019 (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/07/trump-china-uighur-surveillance-038309)
[3]See
Eradicating Ideological Viruses: China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims, Human Rights Watch September 9, 2018 (https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/09/09/eradicating-ideological-viruses/chinas-campaign-repression-against-xinjiangs
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