New bill introduced in US House to boost protections for China's Uyghurs

A wide-ranging bill intended to support the US tech industry was passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill also confronts China on human rights abuses, including the persecution of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the country's Xinjiang region, according to a media report.

The legislation, which is titled the America COMPETES Act, would spend at least USD 52 billion to increase domestic production of semiconductors and address vulnerabilities in the US supply chain, which some economists blame in part for rising inflation, reported Radio Free Asia.

Nearly 2,900-page measure, a collection of previously introduced bills, also contains a number of foreign policy provisions, including language pertaining to China's treatment of Muslim Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hongkongers said the Radio Free Asia.

Gregory W. Meeks, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday "America COMPETES builds a foundation for America to succeed for decades to come, not just in our competition with the PRC [People's Republic of China], but in our fight for a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world," U.S. Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Welcoming the bill, chief of the World Uyghur Congress Dolkun Isa said that the passage of the act will help stop China's ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs.

"The Uyghur Genocide has been ongoing for the past five years. And China hasn't changed its intentions on committing the genocide," Isa added.

Emphasising that the passage of the bill would help resettle Uyghur refugees in many countries, Isa said the bill would prioritise the US response against the genocide of the Uyghurs who are "living under the thumb of China and worrying for their safety".

( With inputs from ANI )

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