Gallagher Calls on Blinken & Mayorkas to Properly Sanction CCP Henchmen Committing Uyghur Genocide

WASHINGTON, DC – As first reported by Reuters, Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas today, requesting that the cabinet officials rigorously enforce the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (UHRPA) and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). UHRPA was enacted into law in 2020, and UFLPA followed in 2021.The laws require the Executive Branch to identify and sanction Chinese government officials who are involved in human rights abuses and the forced labor of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

In the letter, Chairman Gallagher writes, "The [People's Republic of China] PRC government’s ongoing genocide should not go without consequence. The United States must take action to hold PRC perpetrators accountable and thus disincentivize further human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other groups... We must never sacrifice our moral leadership for shallow, one-sided engagement with Beijing."

Earlier this year, reports alleged that the State Department worked to delay imposing UHRPA sanctions on Chinese officials as a strategy to curry favor with the United States' foremost adversary - a genocidal communist regime. Chairman Gallagher noted that the Biden administration has refrained from enacting sanctions on any of the Chinese government officials who bear responsibility for genocide and human rights abuses under the UHRPA.

Chairman Gallagher demanded that Secretary Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas follow the law and implement sanctions on Chinese officials and companies-- starting with one of the Chinese officials that bears the most responsibility, Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In this role, Ma helps lead and galvanizes the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims.

Gallagher named 37 other Chinese officials and companies that Blinken and Mayorkas should sanction under the UHRPA and UFLPA. Should Blinken or Mayorkas determine any of the 37 officials or entities do not meet the criteria for sanctions, Chairman Gallagher requested written explanations no later than October 6, 2023.

Click HERE to view a copy of the letter.