2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 LONG TITLE
10 General Description:
11 This concurrent resolution condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the
12 Uighur community and Hong Kong; 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; and warns Utah businesses to be
17 aware of supply chain materials that may have been made by forced labor.
18 Highlighted Provisions:
19 This resolution:
20 ▸ condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the Uighur community and
21 Hong Kong;
22 ▸ calls upon the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong
23 Kong;
24 ▸ encourages Utah schools and higher learning institutions to teach students about
25 these current events; and
26 ▸ warns Utah businesses to be aware of supply chain materials that may have been
27 made by forced labor.
28 Special Clauses:
29 None
30
31 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
32 WHEREAS, the Government of the People's Republic of China has a long history of
33 repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly Uighurs, in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
34 Region, including mass surveillance and internment of over 1,000,000 Uighurs and other
35 predominantly Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities;
36 WHEREAS, those detained in such facilities have described forced political
37 indoctrination, torture, beatings, forced labor, and food deprivation, as well as denial of
38 religious, cultural, and linguistic freedoms, and confirmed that they were told by guards that the
39 only way to secure release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty;
40 WHEREAS, poor conditions and lack of medical treatment at such facilities appear to
41 have contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the elderly and infirm;
42 WHEREAS, forced labor exists within the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region's
43 system of mass internment camps, and throughout the region, and is confirmed by the
44 testimony of former camp detainees, satellite imagery, official media reports, publicly available
45 documents, official statements, and official leaked documents from the Government of the
46 People's Republic of China as part of a targeted campaign of repression of Muslim ethnic
47 minorities;
48 WHEREAS, audits and efforts to vet products and supply chains in the Xinjiang Uighur
49 Autonomous Region are unreliable due to the extent forced labor has been integrated into the
50 regional economy, the mixing of involuntary labor with voluntary labor, the inability of
51 witnesses to speak freely about working conditions given government surveillance and
52 coercion, and the incentive of government officials to conceal government-sponsored forced
53 labor;
54 WHEREAS, the Government of the People's Republic of China's actions against Turkic
55 Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, whose population was approximately 13
56 million at the time of the last Chinese census in 2020, are in contravention of international
57 human rights laws; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
58 Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
59 Treatment or Punishment, both of which China has signed and ratified; the International
60 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed; and the Universal Declaration
61 of Human Rights;
62 WHEREAS, in late May 2020 the National People's Congress of China announced its
63 intention to unilaterally and arbitrarily impose national security legislation on Hong Kong;
64 WHEREAS, this announcement was merely China's latest salvo in a series of actions
65 that have increasingly denied autonomy and freedoms that China promised to the people of
66 Hong Kong under the 1984 Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of
67 Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on
68 the Question of Hong Kong (Joint Declaration);
69 WHEREAS, under the national security legislation, the people of Hong Kong may face
70 life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power,
71 which may include acts like the widespread anti-government protests in 2019;
72 WHEREAS, under the national security legislation the right to trial by jury may be
73 suspended and proceedings may be conducted in secret;
74 WHEREAS, China has given itself broad power to initiate and control the prosecution
75 of the people of Hong Kong through the new Office for Safeguarding National Security;
76 WHEREAS, the national security legislation allows foreigners to be expelled if China
77 merely suspects them of violating the law, potentially making it harder for journalists, human
78 rights organizations, and other outside groups to hold the People's Republic of China
79 accountable for its treatment of the people of Hong Kong;
80 WHEREAS, in December 2021 the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act (the "UFLPA"
81 or "Act") was signed into law; and
82 WHEREAS, a key feature of the Act is the creation of a rebuttable presumption that all
83 goods manufactured even partially in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region are the product
84 of forced labor and therefore not entitled to entry at ports of the United States:
85 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
86 Governor concurring therein, condemns the mass, arbitrary detention and treatment of Uighurs
87 in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
88 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor condemn the
89 violations by the Government of the People's Republic of China of the fundamental rights of
90 the people of Hong Kong, as provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political
91 Rights, and any encroachment upon the autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong by the Basic Law,
92 enacted under the Constitution of China, and the Joint Declaration.
93 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
94 Government of the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong Kong,
95 including allowing the people of Hong Kong to govern Hong Kong with a high degree of
96 autonomy and without undue interference.
97 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
98 Government of the People's Republic of China to support the robust exercise by residents of
99 Hong Kong of the rights to free speech, the press, and other fundamental freedoms, as provided
100 by the Basic Law, the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
101 Rights.
102 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
103 Government of the People's Republic of China to support freedom from arbitrary or unlawful
104 arrest, detention, or imprisonment for all Hong Kong residents, as provided by the Basic Law,
105 the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
106 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor encourage Utah
107 schools and higher learning institutions to teach Utah students about these current events,
108 particularly those engaged in learning the Chinese language and culture, to understand the
109 atrocities and challenges faced by the people of China as a result of the Maoist socialist
110 economy controlled by the communist People's Republic of China.
111 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor warn Utah
112 businesses to be aware of supply chain materials that may have been made by forced labor.
113 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor encourage
114 businesses to find alternative supply chain providers and producers that do not use forced labor.