Democratic lawmakers have urged Donald Trump to raise concerns over the treatment of Tibetans and Uyghurs during talks with Xi Jinping….reports Asian Lite News Desk
Democratic lawmakers have urged US President Donald Trump to raise human rights concerns involving Tibetans and Uyghurs during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s forthcoming visit to Washington, arguing that human rights should remain part of US engagement with Beijing.
The call came during a Democratic-led congressional hearing on Tuesday titled “The Void in China Policy: Why Human Rights Must Be on Trump’s Agenda with Xi at the White House”. The hearing examined US policy towards China ahead of Xi’s expected visit and featured lawmakers and witnesses focused on alleged rights abuses involving Uyghurs, Tibetans and other groups.
Representatives Greg Stanton, Jim McGovern, Ro Khanna, Nancy Pelosi and Seth Moulton delivered opening statements at the hearing. Witnesses included Uyghur Post founder Tahir Imin, International Tibet Media Organization president Palden Gyal, China researcher Yaqiu Wang and Hong Kong freedom advocate Jonathan Stivers.
Stanton said Trump was expected to host Xi for a state dinner and urged the administration to address the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in China.
“Standing up for the oppressed in the PRC, whether it be Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Mongolians, or Han Chinese, has always been and must be a bipartisan issue,” Stanton said.
He cited allegations concerning the relocation of Tibetan communities and continued repression of Uyghurs. The figures and characterisations were presented by lawmakers at the hearing and were not accompanied in the supplied material by responses from the Chinese government.
McGovern, the ranking Democrat on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, criticised what he described as a shift in US policy towards a more transactional approach.
“President Trump has removed human rights from U.S. foreign policy in favor of a transactional approach,” McGovern said.
He criticised cuts to State Department human rights programmes and grants supporting organisations working on China-related rights issues. He also raised concerns about efforts affecting Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which he said provided independent information to audiences in China.
McGovern contrasted the current congressional record with a series of bipartisan China-related human rights measures passed between 2018 and 2024. These included legislation concerning Tibet, Uyghur rights and Hong Kong.
Ro Khanna, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, focused on the enforcement of US restrictions on goods linked to forced labour.
Khanna said the Biden administration had enforced restrictions involving products connected to Uyghur forced labour and argued that the Trump administration had not maintained the same approach. His comments were part of the broader Democratic criticism of the administration’s China policy.
Pelosi also warned against allowing commercial considerations to take precedence over human rights concerns. She stressed the importance of publicly identifying political prisoners and keeping attention on their cases.
“We always want to mention, whether we’re delivering letters, whether we’re speaking on the floor, whatever it is, to make sure that people in prison know that they are not forgotten, that their courage is recognized, and we will not rest until there is some justice in all of this,” Pelosi said.
Moulton argued that US-China competition involved economic and military power as well as competing approaches to international leadership and values.
He said cuts to programmes supporting independent journalism and civil society reduced Washington’s ability to communicate with people in China. He also highlighted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as an example of bipartisan congressional action on China-related human rights issues.
The hearing comes as Congress continues to hold separate hearings on China-related issues. On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee held a hearing examining China’s repression beyond its borders and the treatment of individuals affected by Chinese policies.
US lawmakers have previously passed several bipartisan measures dealing with China’s treatment of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Hong Kong residents. These include the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, the Tibetan Policy and Support Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The congressional hearing highlighted continuing differences among US lawmakers over how human rights concerns should be incorporated into Washington’s broader relationship with Beijing as the two countries engage on trade, security and other issues.
The Chinese government’s response to the lawmakers’ allegations was not included in the supplied hearing material.
