WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) has fired off another salvo in his unofficial but ongoing war with mainland China, this time condemning the Chinese government’s suppression of its ethnic minorities.
A bipartisan resolution introduced by Curtis into the 119th Congress in late June targeted a law recently passed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that erodes the rights of mainland minority groups by outlawing the use of their language and culture in public settings.
“The CCP’s new ethnic conformity law signals an escalation in Beijing’s longstanding campaign to erase the cultural identities of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Christians and other minorities,” according to Curtis, “all while giving the CCP a pretext to intimidate critics far beyond China’s borders.”
The Chinese law that took effect on July 1 also includes a clause allowing the mainland government to target people and groups outside of China that it deems accountable for undermining Chinese “ethnic unity” throughout the world.
Curtis and other senators agree that clause threatens the sovereignty of nations and the security of Chinese immigrants worldwide.
Curtis, who speaks Mandarin after a two-year mission in Taiwan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisted the support of Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jeff Merkey (D-OR) for his bipartisan resolution condemning the Chinese ethnic conformity law.
Given both emotional and political ties to that tiny but critical island nation, Curtis is on record in the past as supporting a $14 billion arms deal with Taiwan along with additional U.S. strategic commitments in the face of bellicose threats from the mainland Chinese.
Curtis has also played a significant role in convincing congressional colleagues to play hard ball with the mainland Chinese over their territorial ambitions concerning Taiwan, which remains one the world’s major exporters of computer chips.
“As leader of the free world,” Curtis argues, “the United States must stand firmly with those facing persecution and make clear that the CCP’s efforts to export repression, silence those who speak out about its human rights abuses and undermine our sovereignty will not be tolerated.”