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Xinjiang

March 20, 2024

(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Co-chair, respectively, of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), held a hearing this week examining the issue of forced organ harvesting in China and how medical associations, businesses, and U.S. state legislatures are grappling with the legal, ethical, and human rights concerns associated with this issue.


March 6, 2024

(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).

Issues: Xinjiang

March 6, 2024

(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).

Issues: Xinjiang

November 1, 2023

(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).


October 24, 2023

(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.


September 27, 2023

(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.


September 22, 2023

(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:

Issues: Xinjiang

June 9, 2023

(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).