Senate Bill Calls for 'Secondary Sanctions' on Businesses Aiding Human Rights Violators in China
A bipartisan bill recently introduced in the Senate could expand sanctions against China for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province. The Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act, introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., could revise the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 by expanding the types of sanctionable activities and requiring the president to consider sanctions against foreign people or companies that knowingly provide “significant goods, services, or technology” to people sanctioned under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
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The bill would “enhance the enforcement of secondary sanctions on businesses that offer assistance to the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing atrocities against the Uyghurs,” Rubio said May 31. Merkley called the legislation a “critical step in doing more to hold the CCP accountable for these atrocious abuses while taking actions to protect the victims of genocide.”
Rubio’s office said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., will introduce companion legislation in the House.