CFU Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 30, 2022, 5:30 PM ET
Rushan Abbas: rushan@campaignforuyghurs.org, (559) 375-3571
campaignforuyghurs.org
CFU Commends Rep. Kim for Uyghur Policy Act
Representative Kim resurfaces a key Uyghur bill in response to Urumqi fire protests.
November 30th, 2022 – Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) applauds Representative Young Kim for speaking in support of the Uyghur Policy Act (H.R. 4785) yesterday in Congress. The bill was first introduced in July of 2021, is supported by 79 bi-partisan co-sponsors and creates an exhaustive plan for the United States State Department to raise awareness and respond to the active Uyghur genocide. A main effort is to address the transnational repression and silencing of Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). H.R. 4785 is a companion bill to the Uyghur Policy Act (S.4073) introduced by Senator Marco Rubio on April 7, 2022.
“The people of China are waking up to the CCP’s oppression and are demanding basic freedoms. Whether it is lockdown protesters in Shanghai or Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, the United States must show through words and through actions that we will have their backs in the fight against the CCP’s tyranny […] We must act now to leverage the U.S. soft power, garner support for Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and equip the State Department with the tools it needs to better respond to the CCP’s genocidal campaign,” says Representative Kim.
The Uyghur Policy Act would create a Special Coordinator position at the State Department for initiatives focused on Uyghurs and other ethnic groups, and ensure that Uyghur-language training is available to US Foreign Service Officers. It also focuses on circulating information about Uyghurs and the Uyghur genocide to Muslim-majority nations.
“The Uyghur community is grateful for the steps Representative Kim is taking to pass the Uyghur Policy Act,” said CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas. “Uyghurs in diaspora have been facing acts of transnational repression by the Chinese regime. The passage of this bill would support Uyghur activists and develop a coordinated plan to address the genocide. With the mass protests in China and across the world, we must hold China accountable and defend the very rights that China seeks to quash.”
CFU urges Congress to act swiftly to pass the Uyghur Policy Act in the House and the Senate. The Uyghur diaspora faces coercion and intimidation even while abroad, and transnational repression by Chinese state actors must be discovered and stopped. This bill would be a momentous step in doing so by increasing accessibility to US FSOs and offering continuing to support Uyghur rights advocates.
