WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the below statement following the Biden Administration’s announcement to issue sanctions on some CCP officials under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
“While we welcome this news, the Biden Administration has dragged its feet to implement sanctions under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (UHRPA) for far too long. Most alarmingly absent from the administration’s designations is Ma Xingrui, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) boss in Xinjiang, who is responsible for implementing the CCP’s genocidal policies against the Uyghurs and other ethnic groups.
The administration must not allow Ma’s status as a CCP Politburo member to shield him from U.S. targeted sanctions in the continued pursuit of a failed engagement strategy. Secretary Blinken must explain why the top CCP official in Xinjiang—who implements Xi Jinping’s genocide– does not meet the criteria for U.S. sanctions. If the administration refuses to hold the major perpetrators of the Uyghur genocide accountable, Congress will take the lead on human rights where the administration has thrown in the towel.”
