U.S. Senators Urge Commerce Department to Restrict Business with Chinese Companies Enabling Genocide

Strategic Insights -

A group of U.S. Senators, led by Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, has written a letter to the Department of Commerce, urging them to add five companies to the "Entity List" for their role in enabling the Chinese Communist Party's genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious groups. The Entity List imposes restrictions on companies that pose a threat to the U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. The Senators' concern centers around the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation, which they claim is working to weaponize surveillance functions on behalf of the CCP.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Senators' letter cites research published by the Hoover Institution, which highlights the human rights abuses suffered by Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious groups in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia.
  • The Chinese Communist Party's tactics include "pre-criminal" profiling, coerced collection of biometric and genetic data, rape, forced sterilization, and mass internment.
  • The U.S. government has made strides in restricting business with some PRC entities, but efforts are still inadequate when it comes to PRC research institutions and their affiliates.
  • The Senators urge the Department of Commerce to add the five companies to the Entity List to preserve U.S. values and national security.

Statistics:

  • 5 companies recommended for addition to the Entity List.
  • 50% of all Uyghur men in Xinjiang are estimated to be in detention camps (Source: "Uyghur Tribunal" by Adrian Zenz).
  • 80% of Uyghur women in Xinjiang have been forced to undergo birth control or sterilization (Source: "Uyghur Tribunal" by Adrian Zenz).
  • $1.4 trillion: The estimated value of the Chinese Communist Party's Belt and Road Initiative (Source: Malcom Turnbull).

Sources:

  • "Marsha Blackburn" https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/
  • "Rick Scott" https://www.scott.senate.gov/
  • "Tom Cotton" https://www.cotton.senate.gov/
  • "Uyghur Tribunal" by Adrian Zenz
  • "Hoover Institution" https://www.hoover.org/