H.C.R. 2
LEGISLATIVE GENERAL COUNSEL
6 Approved for Filing: T.R. Vaughn 6
6 12-23-22 9:46 AM 6
H.C.R. 2
1 CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON CONDEMNING THE
2 TREATMENT OF THE UI GHUR ETHNIC COMMUNITY AND
3 HONG KONG BY THE CHI NESE GOVERNMENT
4 2023 GENERAL SESSION
5 STATE OF UTAH
6 Chief Sponsor: Candice B. Pierucci
7 Senate Sponsor: ____________
8
9LONG TITLE
10General Description:
11 This concurrent resolution condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the
12Uighur community and Hong Kong; encourages Utah schools and higher learning
13institutions to teach students about these current events, particularly those engaged in
14learning the Chinese language and culture, to understand the atrocities and challenges
15faced by the people of China as a result of the socialist economy controlled by the
16communist People's Republic of China government; and warns Utah businesses to be
17aware of supply chain materials that may have been made by forced labor.
18Highlighted Provisions:
19 This resolution:
20 <condemns the People's Republic of China's treatment of the Uighur community and
21Hong Kong;
22 <calls upon the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong
23Kong;
24 <encourages Utah schools and higher learning institutions to teach students about
25these current events; and
26 <warns Utah businesses to be aware of supply chain materials that may have been
27made by forced labor.
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28Special Clauses:
29 None
30
31Be 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
33repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly Uighurs, in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
34Region, including mass surveillance and internment of over 1,000,000 Uighurs and other
35predominantly Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities;
36 WHEREAS, those detained in such facilities have described forced political
37indoctrination, torture, beatings, forced labor, and food deprivation, as well as denial of
38religious, cultural, and linguistic freedoms, and confirmed that they were told by guards that the
39only way to secure release was to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty;
40 WHEREAS, poor conditions and lack of medical treatment at such facilities appear to
41have contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the elderly and infirm;
42 WHEREAS, forced labor exists within the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region's
43system of mass internment camps, and throughout the region, and is confirmed by the
44testimony of former camp detainees, satellite imagery, official media reports, publicly available
45documents, official statements, and official leaked documents from the Government of the
46People's Republic of China as part of a targeted campaign of repression of Muslim ethnic
47minorities;
48 WHEREAS, audits and efforts to vet products and supply chains in the Xinjiang Uighur
49Autonomous Region are unreliable due to the extent forced labor has been integrated into the
50regional economy, the mixing of involuntary labor with voluntary labor, the inability of
51witnesses to speak freely about working conditions given government surveillance and
52coercion, and the incentive of government officials to conceal government-sponsored forced
53labor;
54 WHEREAS, the Government of the People's Republic of China's actions against Turkic
55Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, whose population was approximately 13
56million at the time of the last Chinese census in 2020, are in contravention of international
57human rights laws; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
58Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 12-23-22 9:46 AM H.C.R. 2
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59Treatment or Punishment, both of which China has signed and ratified; the International
60Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed; and the Universal Declaration
61of Human Rights;
62 WHEREAS, in late May 2020 the National People's Congress of China announced its
63intention 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
65that have increasingly denied autonomy and freedoms that China promised to the people of
66Hong Kong under the 1984 Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of
67Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on
68the Question of Hong Kong (Joint Declaration);
69 WHEREAS, under the national security legislation, the people of Hong Kong may face
70life in prison for what China considers to be acts of secession or subversion of state power,
71which 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
73suspended and proceedings may be conducted in secret;
74 WHEREAS, China has given itself broad power to initiate and control the prosecution
75of 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
77merely suspects them of violating the law, potentially making it harder for journalists, human
78rights organizations, and other outside groups to hold the People's Republic of China
79accountable for its treatment of the people of Hong Kong;
80 WHEREAS, in December 2021 the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act (the "UFLPA"
81or "Act") was signed into law; and
82 WHEREAS, a key feature of the Act is the creation of a rebuttable presumption that all
83goods manufactured even partially in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region are the product
84of 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
86Governor concurring therein, condemns the mass, arbitrary detention and treatment of Uighurs
87in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
88 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor condemn the
89violations by the Government of the People's Republic of China of the fundamental rights of H.C.R. 2 12-23-22 9:46 AM
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90the people of Hong Kong, as provided by the International Covenant on Civil and Political
91Rights, and any encroachment upon the autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong by the Basic Law,
92enacted under the Constitution of China, and the Joint Declaration.
93 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
94Government of the People's Republic of China to uphold its commitments to Hong Kong,
95including allowing the people of Hong Kong to govern Hong Kong with a high degree of
96autonomy and without undue interference.
97 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
98Government of the People's Republic of China to support the robust exercise by residents of
99Hong Kong of the rights to free speech, the press, and other fundamental freedoms, as provided
100by the Basic Law, the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
101Rights.
102 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor call upon the
103Government of the People's Republic of China to support freedom from arbitrary or unlawful
104arrest, detention, or imprisonment for all Hong Kong residents, as provided by the Basic Law,
105the Joint Declaration, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
106 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor encourage Utah
107schools and higher learning institutions to teach Utah students about these current events,
108particularly those engaged in learning the Chinese language and culture, to understand the
109atrocities and challenges faced by the people of China as a result of the Maoist socialist
110economy controlled by the communist People's Republic of China.
111 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor warn Utah
112businesses 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
114businesses to find alternative supply chain providers and producers that do not use forced labor.