CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2024, 1:30 PM
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
+1 650-703-4523
www.campaignforuyghurs.org
Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) welcomes the recent letter spearheaded by Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which raises serious concerns about U.S. biopharmaceutical companies conducting clinical trials alongside the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and in East Turkistan, where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is perpetrating genocide against the Uyghur people.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Reps. Neal Dunn, M.D. (R-FL) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA), have called upon the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide detailed information about these clinical trials. The lawmakers also expressed grave concerns that the PLA may be co-opting sensitive U.S. Intellectual Property (IP) through these trials. They questioned the ethics of conducting research in East Turkistan, where Uyghur people and other Turkic communities are subjected to forced medical procedures that may overlap with FDA-approved studies.
Rushan Abbas, Founder and Executive Director of CFU, responded to the news: “This letter from the Select Committee on the CCP to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reveals the disturbing reality that U.S. biopharmaceutical industry could be inadvertently linked to the ongoing Uyghur genocide. Conducting clinical trials alongside the People’s Liberation Army in a region where genocide is taking place raises profound ethical concerns that demand urgent attention. We must insist on transparency to ensure that our values and safety are not compromised in the pursuit of medical progress.”
With the issues raised, it is now more than ever essential that the BIOSECURE ACT, introduced by former Representative Mike Gallagher and cosponsored by Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, be passed and implemented. The Act aims to withhold federal funding and contracts from companies that source biotech equipment or services from “companies of concern,” including several Chinese firms like WuXi AppTec. WuXi AppTec operates one of China’s “Genetic Testing Technology Application Demonstration Centers.” These centers are also operated by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which is sanctioned by the U.S. government for perpetrating human rights abuses against Uyghurs. This legislation is a significant step towards ensuring that U.S. innovation does not inadvertently support entities involved in genocide.
CFU urges all U.S. companies to carefully assess their international partnerships, especially those involving the CCP or entities like the PLA, and to ensure that their business practices align with American values and ethical standards and are not complicit in genocide.
