Lawmaker Requests Sanctions, UFLPA Entity List Determinations for Chinese People, Companies
The top Republican on the House Select Committee on China asked the Biden administration to determine whether 13 Chinese government officials should be subject to sanctions and 25 entities should be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List for their ties to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
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In a Sept. 19 letter to the State Department and DHS, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., urged the administration to do more to hold Chinese officials and companies accountable, criticizing the State Department for reportedly holding back China sanctions in an effort to limit damage to the U.S.-China relationship (see 2307120042). The agency has denied those claims (see 2307190057).
“If true, this would, in effect, be tantamount to the Biden administration turning a blind eye to the ongoing Uyghur genocide in order to curry favor with the [Chinese] government -- an adversarial, authoritarian regime,” Gallagher wrote.
The lawmaker provided a list of members of China’s Xinjiang Standing Committee who may warrant sanctions for playing “instrumental roles in formulating and implementing policies of Uyghur genocide and forced labor." While the administration has sanctioned some Chinese officials for human rights violations involving the forced labor of Uyghurs, it hasn’t yet imposed sanctions under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act “that would hold perpetrators of Uyghur human rights abuses and forced labor accountable,” Gallagher said.
He also listed various Chinese companies -- including businesses involved in the country’s textile, footwear, electronics and mining sectors -- that may warrant inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List. The administration should determine by Oct. 6 whether they should be added, Gallagher said, and also whether any companies currently on the list should be subject to financial sanctions. If the administration determines any of these entities don’t meet the criteria for sanctions, Gallagher asked for an explanation.
Spokespeople for the State Department and DHS didn’t comment.