Xinjiang
(Washington) — U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), today released four letters—three to tourism companies and one to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken—to raise concerns about corporate complicity in the People's Republic of China's (PRC) efforts to encourage tourism to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today released letters to the chief executives of Costco and ADI , asking questions about the ongoing sales of security equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua, PRC-based brands whose products are banned for use by the U.S. Government and implicated in assisting with genocide and other horrific human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
(Washington)—The bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing today looking at the rampant use of forced labor in China’s seafood industry and how seafood caught and processed with forced labor ends up in the U.S. supply chains. The CECC’s Chairs, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were joined at the hearing by Commissioner Thea Lee, the Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Department of Labor. The CECC includes five Executive Branch members and bipartisan Congressional members from the House and Senate.
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) issued the following statement in response to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s announcement of the addition of three new PRC-based companies to the “Entity List” required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and the Department of State’s announcement of the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory Addendum.
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued the following statement on the ninth anniversary of the conviction and life imprisonment of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti:
(Washington)—The Chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), issued the following statement concerning the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement of additions to the “Entity List” required by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The Chairs were the primary cosponsors of UFLPA with former CECC Chairs Marco Rubio (R-FL) and James P. McGovern (D-MA).
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) is the most momentous piece of China legislation passed by the Congress in over two decades. If enforced as intended, UFLPA imposes significant costs on the People’s Republic of China for its campaign of genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities and takes steps to prevent companies from benefiting from the use of forced labor in their supply chains. The task assigned to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the multi-agency Forced Labor Enforcement Taskforce (FLETF) is daunting and aggressive enforcement is the key to UFLPA’s effectiveness.
(Washington, DC)—Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Cochair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), today released a letter to Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Robert P. Silvers outlining concerns about the implementation and enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (P.L. 117-78, or UFLPA). Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA) joined the Chairs in sending the letter. This bipartisan group of lawmakers were the lead sponsors of the UFLPA legislation.
(Washington)— Commissioners from the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) today released a letter to Marc Casper, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific expressing concerns that products made by his company are being used for mass DNA collection in Tibet which “could enable further gross violations” of the human rights of ethnic minorities in China.