Gardner, 47 colleagues urge administration to expand sanctions against China

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) joined a bipartisan, bicameral contingent of 47 lawmakers to again denounce human rights abuses in China.

In a Dec. 12 letter sent to Trump administration officials, Sen. Gardner and his colleagues renewed their call urging the White House “to respond strongly and decisively” to the mass internment and forced labor of ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) by the Chinese government and Communist Party.

“We must respond to one of the greatest ongoing tragedies of our time. If the U.S. and American companies refuse or fail to act, it will be a stain on our history,” wrote Sen. Gardner, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, and his fellow lawmakers.

“The United States must lead the free world in addressing what may be crimes against humanity being committed in the XUAR,” according to their letter, which included signatures from 28 senators and 20 congressmen.

A bipartisan group of congressional members first sent a letter on this issue in April after journalists and researchers revealed that senior officials in China were ordering and coordinating the mass internment and forced labor policies in the XUAR.

“While we were pleased to see the Administration announce the imposition of sanctions against Chinese individuals and entities on October 7-8, 2019, these measures were a first step that do not go far enough in ensuring accountability for China’s government and Communist Party,” wrote Sen. Gardner and the lawmakers.

The members renewed their concerns following a New York Times article published on Nov. 16 that leaked Chinese government documents reiterating the role of the Chinese Communist Party in the ongoing human rights abuses in the XUAR.

They urged the Trump administration to publicly expand and impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against senior Communist Party leaders who they said have had a role in setting and implementing China’s ethnic and religious policies.

And they want to see more Bureau of Industry and Security “Entity List” designations, which are already applied to Chinese government departments and companies “responsible for this tragic situation.”

“We ask that you expand the Entity List to ensure that U.S. companies are not contributing to, directly or indirectly, the gross human rights violations in the XUAR,” wrote Sen. Gardner and his colleagues.