Why is a U.S. Congressman aligning himself with a representative of Chinese state media against Senator Marsha Blackburn? China Daily’s EU Bureau chief, Chen Weihua, went off on Senator Blackburn after she tweeted out support of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Blackburn called out the Chinese government on social media and that didn’t sit well with Chen Weihua or with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, a vote of 406 – 3. The three ‘nay’ votes were from Reps. Thomas Massie, Justin Amash, and Warren Davidson – two Republicans and one former Republican who is now an Independent. The legislation is now in the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
This bill imposes various restrictions related to China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region, including prohibiting certain imports from Xinjiang and imposing sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations there. The bill is simple enough. It bans goods produced by slave labor from Xinjiang. Specifically, this bill is a statement against the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of minority groups in Xinjiang. There is a provision that requires the President to report to Congress with a list of “foreign entities and individuals” who use the slave labor and requires sanctions to be levied against them.
Goods manufactured or produced in Xinjiang shall not be entitled to entry into the United States unless Customs and Border Protection (1) determines that the goods were not manufactured by convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions; and (2) reports such a determination to Congress and to the public.
The President shall periodically report to Congress a list of foreign entities and individuals knowingly facilitating (1) the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang; and (2) efforts to contravene U.S. laws regarding the importation of forced labor goods from Xinjiang. The President shall impose property-blocking sanctions on the listed individuals and entities and impose visa-blocking sanctions on the listed individuals.
Securities issuers required to file annual or quarterly reports with the Securities Exchange Commission shall disclose in such reports certain information related to Xinjiang, including instances where the issuer knowingly (1) engaged in activities with an entity helping to create mass surveillance systems in Xinjiang, (2) engaged in activities with an entity running or building detention facilities for Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, or (3) conducted a transaction with any person sanctioned for the detention or abuse of Uyghurs or other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. After being notified of such a disclosure, the President shall determine whether to investigate if sanctions or criminal charges are warranted.
The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force and the Department of State shall report to Congress strategies to address forced labor in Xinjiang.
Some American companies lobbied to water down the bill. Why? Apparently, the reason is an unwillingness to rock the boat and risk losing money. Not exactly a woke position, now is it? What’s a little genocide and slavery among the Communist Chinese as long as the bottom line flourishes, right?
Now that the bill is in the Senate, Senator Blackburn tweeted out a brutally honest fact about the Communist Chinese government, and not only did China Daily’s EU Bureau chief slam her for doing so, he decided to toss in some ugly words in doing so.
China has a 5,000 year history of cheating and stealing. Some things will never change…
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) December 3, 2020
What did she say that isn’t true? Since there is no reasonable rebuttal to the statement, Chen Weihua went with some misogyny and cries of racism.
Bitch
— Chen Weihua (陈卫华) (@chenweihua) December 3, 2020
This is the most racist and ignorant US Senator I have seen. A lifetime bitch.
— Chen Weihua (陈卫华) (@chenweihua) December 3, 2020
Wonder why the US Congress would have approval rating as low as 9% (according to Gallup)? It is because people like lowlife Marsha Blackburn were there.
— Chen Weihua (陈卫华) (@chenweihua) December 3, 2020
The responses were mixed because this is 2020 and Democrats are happy to drag a Republican, even if it means siding with Communist China.
The good:
You want to talk about lifetime bitches? Here's the ultimate. She's pictured alongside the mass murderer. pic.twitter.com/OZn0QVoDFT
— Jack Fowler (@jackfowler) December 3, 2020
The bad:
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1334581681685028864
@chenweihua On behalf of the sane people of the USA, I offer apologies. Nothing @MarshaBlackburn says contains any basic decency, leadership, or politeness. Please allow us to clean our own doorstep. Unfortunately, it will take a while.
— Prosecute All Traitors Fan 🌈 (@bistokidsfan) December 3, 2020
We do apologize sir. Please don't let Marsha color what we are. Some of us are decent folk. Some of the rest really need their heads examined…or some really good drugs.
Others, need a full frontal lobotomy. I think Marsha is one of those…except I think she already had one.
— May'n Nome (@RGBodhaine) December 3, 2020
Congressman Krishnamoorthi chimed in, which seems odd since he’s a member of the House Intelligence Committee and should know about China’s nefarious behavior towards the United States. And, there’s a pandemic that China launched throughout the world.
At a time when anti-Asian hate crimes and bias are the worst we've witnessed in decades, the last thing we need is a United States Senator engaging in generalizations so racist and ignorant they sound like they could have been pulled from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. https://t.co/0dkv8PD3w6
— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) December 3, 2020
The actions of the government in Beijing must be addressed but wrongly and inaccurately conflating them with an entire civilization and its history does nothing but encourage prejudices we should have all already rejected long ago.
— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) December 3, 2020
Blackburn issued a statement.
Blackburn responded, calling out the CCP’s own atrocities carried out for years on the Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan, officially recognized as the northwest Xinjiang Province.
“From Tiananmen Square to the Uyghur genocide, Communist China is an expert at slaughtering populations,” Blackburn said in a statement Thursday. “America will not bow down to sexist communist thugs.”
A Chinese dissident in exile, cartoonist and artist Badiucao, posted a series of satirical ads on Twitter aimed at the American companies enabling the Chinese government by lobbying for softer legislation. Badiucao was awarded the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent in September. He is targeting Nike, Apple, and Coca-Cola. He lives in Australia and goes by a pseudonym. He wants to raise awareness and educate consumers.
1/N@Apple @tim_cook , @Nike, @CocaCola are lobbying against The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Brands like @ZARA @mujiusa support China’s #Uyghur genocide via using XJ cotton.I create new satire Ad against them. Get for free and expose them: https://t.co/2M8wbPGlPr pic.twitter.com/DPN9fKmpTs
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) December 3, 2020
China’s embassy in the United States denied that it uses slavery. It took the opportunity to slam the legislation.
“Some US politicians have concocted disinformation of so-called ‘forced labor’ in order to restrict and oppress relevant parties and enterprises in China as well as contain China’s development,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
“The US practice violates the international trade rules and market economy principles, destroys the global industrial chains and supply chains, and damages the interests of enterprises and consumers in various countries, including the United States,” said the statement, which added that, “All ethnic groups in Xinjiang choose their occupations according to their own will and sign “labor contracts” of their own volition in accordance with law on the basis of equality.”
Now the Senate needs to act on the legislation. It’s a rare opportunity for bipartisan agreement on standing up to China’s brutal regime. If the bill carries over into the Biden administration, do we think Joe Biden will have the backbone to support the bill? The Obama-Biden administration was happy to allow China to go unchecked and Joe Biden enabled his son Hunter to secure a sweet deal with the Communist government.
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