In a rare bipartisan compromise, the Senate unanimously passed a bill punishing the Chinese government for its genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities — and agreed to hold a vote later on Thursday to confirm Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China.
Driving the news: The Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act, which passed the House on Tuesday, would ban all imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang unless the U.S. government determines with “clear and convincing evidence” that they were not made with forced labor.
- The White House confirmed this week that President Biden will sign the bill, after months of allegations from Republicans that the administration was lobbying against it.
- Just one member of Congress — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — voted against the original version of the bill, reflecting the overwhelming bipartisan consensus of the need to respond to Beijing’s human rights abuses.
