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10 General Description:
11 This concurrent resolution condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the
12 Uighur community and Hong Kong and encourages Utah schools and higher learning
13 institutions to teach students about these current events, particularly those engaged in
14 learning the Chinese language and culture to understand the atrocities and challenges
15 faced by the people of China as a result of the socialist economy controlled by the
16 communist People's Republic of China government.
17 Highlighted Provisions:
18 This resolution:
19 ▸ condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the Uighur community and
20 Hong Kong;
21 ▸ calls upon the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong
22 Kong; and
23 ▸ encourages Utah schools and higher learning institutions to teach students about
24 these current events.
25 Special Clauses:
26 None
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28 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
29 WHEREAS, the Government of the People's Republic of China has a long history of
30 repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly Uighurs, in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
31 Region, including mass surveillance and internment of over 1,000,000 Uighurs and other
32 predominantly Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities;
33 WHEREAS, those detained in such facilities have described forced political
34 indoctrination, torture, beatings, and food deprivation, as well as denial of religious, cultural,
35 and linguistic freedoms and confirmed that they were told by guards that the only way to secure
36 release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty;
37 WHEREAS, poor conditions and lack of medical treatment at such facilities appear to
38 have contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the elderly and infirm;
39 WHEREAS, the Government of the People's Republic of China's actions against Turkic
40 Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, whose population was approximately 13
41 million at the time of the last Chinese census in 2020, are in contravention of international
42 human rights laws; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
43 Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
44 Treatment or Punishment, both of which China has signed and ratified; the International
45 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed; and the Universal Declaration
46 of Human Rights;
47 WHEREAS, in late May 2020 the National People's Congress of China announced its
48 intention to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong;
49 WHEREAS, this announcement was merely China's latest salvo in a series of actions
50 that have increasingly denied autonomy and freedoms that China promised to the people of
51 Hong Kong under the 1984 Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of
52 Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on
53 the Question of Hong Kong (Joint Declaration);
54 WHEREAS, under the national security legislation, the people of Hong Kong may face
55 life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power,
56 which may include acts like the widespread anti-government protests in 2019;
57 WHEREAS, under the national security legislation the right to trial by jury may be
58 suspended and proceedings may be conducted in secret;
59 WHEREAS, China has given itself broad power to initiate and control the prosecutions
60 of the people of Hong Kong through the new Office for Safeguarding National Security; and
61 WHEREAS, the national security legislation allows foreigners to be expelled if China
62 merely suspects them of violating the law, potentially making it harder for journalists, human
63 rights organizations, and other outside groups to hold the People's Republic of China
64 accountable for its treatment of the people of Hong Kong:
65 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
66 Governor concurring therein, condemns the mass, arbitrary detention and treatment of Uighurs
67 in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
68 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor condemn the
69 violations by the Government of the People's Republic of China of the fundamental rights of
70 the people of Hong Kong, as provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political
71 Rights, and any encroachment upon the autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong by the Basic Law
72 and the Joint Declaration.
73 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
74 Government of the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong Kong,
75 including allowing the people of Hong Kong to govern Hong Kong with a high degree of
76 autonomy and without undue interference.
77 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
78 Government of the People's Republic of China to support the robust exercise by residents of
79 Hong Kong of the rights to free speech, the press, and other fundamental freedoms, as provided
80 by the Basic Law, the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
81 Rights.
82 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
83 Government of the People's Republic of China to support freedom from arbitrary or unlawful
84 arrest, detention, or imprisonment for all Hong Kong residents, as provided by the Basic Law,
85 the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
86 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor encourage Utah
87 schools and higher learning institutions to teach Utah students about these current events,
88 particularly those engaged in learning the Chinese language and culture, to understand the
89 atrocities and challenges faced by the people of China as a result of the Maoist socialist
90 economy controlled by the communist People's Republic of China.