117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4785 
AN ACT 
To support the human rights of Uyghurs and members of 
other minority groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region and safeguard their distinct 
identity, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Uyghur Policy Act of 
2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) con-
tinues to repress the distinct Islamic, Turkic identity 
of Uyghurs and members of other minority groups 
of 
the 
Xinjiang 
Uyghur 
Autonomous 
Region 
(XUAR) in northwestern China and other areas of 
their habitual residence. 
(2) Uyghurs, and other predominantly Muslim 
ethnic minorities historically making up the majority 
of the XUAR population, have maintained through-
out their history a distinct religious and cultural 
identity. 
(3) Human rights, including freedom of religion 
or belief, and respect for the Uyghurs’ unique Mus-
lim identity are legitimate interests of the inter-
national community. 
(4) The People’s Republic of China has ratified 
the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and 
Cultural Rights and is thereby bound by its provi-
sions. The PRC has also signed the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article One
of both covenants state that all peoples have the 
right to self-determination. 
(5) An official campaign to encourage Han Chi-
nese migration into the XUAR has placed immense 
pressure on those who seek to preserve the ethnic, 
cultural, religious, and linguistic traditions of the 
Uyghur people. Chinese authorities have supported 
an influx of Han Chinese economic immigrants into 
the XUAR, implemented discrimination against 
Uyghurs in hiring practices, and provided unequal 
access to healthcare services. 
(6) The authorities of the People’s Republic of 
China have manipulated the strategic objectives of 
the international war on terror to mask their in-
creasing cultural and religious oppression of the 
Muslim population residing in the XUAR. 
(7) Following unrest in the region, in 2014, 
Chinese authorities launched their ‘‘Strike Hard 
against Violent Extremism’’ campaign, in which du-
bious allegations of widespread extremist activity 
were used as justification for gross human rights 
violations committed against members of the Uyghur 
community in the XUAR. 
(8) PRC authorities have made use of the legal 
system as a tool of repression, including for the im-
position of arbitrary detentions and for torture 
against members of the Uyghur community and 
other populations. 
(9) Uyghurs and Kazakhs who have secured 
citizenship or permanent residency outside of the 
PRC have attested to repeated threats, harassment, 
and surveillance by PRC officials. 
(10) Reporting from international news organi-
zations has found that over the past decade, family 
members of Uyghurs living outside of the PRC have 
gone missing or been detained to force Uyghur expa-
triates to return to the PRC or silence their dissent. 
(11) Credible evidence from human rights orga-
nizations, think tanks, and journalists confirms that 
more than 1,000,000 Uyghurs and members of other 
Muslim ethnic minority groups have been imprisoned 
in ‘‘political reeducation’’ centers. 
(12) Independent accounts from former detain-
ees of ‘‘political reeducation’’ centers describe inhu-
mane conditions and treatment including forced po-
litical indoctrination, torture, beatings, rape, forced 
sterilization, and food deprivation. Former detainees 
also confirmed that they were told by guards the 
only way to secure release was to demonstrate suffi-
cient political loyalty to the PRC Government and 
the Chinese Communist Party. 
(13) Popular discourse surrounding the ongoing 
atrocities in the XUAR and advocacy efforts to as-
sist Uyghurs remains muted in most Muslim major-
ity nations around the world. 
(14) Both Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
and Former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo 
have stated that the PRC government has com-
mitted genocide and crimes against humanity 
against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious mi-
norities in the XUAR. 
(15) Government bodies of multiple nations 
have also declared that PRC government atrocities 
against such populations in the XUAR constitute 
genocide, including the parliaments of the United 
Kingdom, Belgium, Czechia, Lithuania, the Nether-
lands, and Canada. 
SEC. 3. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY. 
Congress— 
(1) calls upon the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to open the XUAR to regular, 
transparent, and unmanipulated visits by members 
of the press, Members of Congress, congressional 
staff delegations, the United States Special Coordi-
nator for Uyghur Issues under section 4, and mem-
bers and staff of the Congressional-Executive Com-
mission on the People’s Republic of China; 
(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to recognize, and seek to ensure 
the preservation of, the distinct ethnic, cultural, reli-
gious, and linguistic identity of Uyghurs and mem-
bers of other ethnic and religious minority groups in 
the XUAR; 
(3) calls upon the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to cease all government-sponsored 
crackdowns, imprisonments, and detentions of people 
throughout the XUAR aimed at those involved in 
the peaceful expression of their ethnic, cultural, po-
litical, or religious identity; 
(4) commends countries that have provided 
shelter and hospitality to Uyghurs in exile, including 
Turkey, Albania, and Germany; and 
(5) urges countries with sizeable Muslim popu-
lations, given commonalities in their religious and 
cultural identities, to demonstrate concern over the 
plight of Uyghurs.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR 
UYGHUR ISSUES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be within 
the Department of State a United States Special Coordi-
nator for Uyghur Issues (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Special Coordinator’’), to be designated by the Secretary 
of State in accordance with subsection (b). 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of State shall 
consult with the Chairs and Ranking Members of the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa-
tives prior to the designation of the Special Coordinator. 
(c) CENTRAL OBJECTIVE.—The Special Coordinator 
should seek to promote the protection and preservation of 
the distinct ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic iden-
tities of the Uyghurs. 
(d) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Special 
Coordinator should, as appropriate— 
(1) coordinate United State Government poli-
cies, 
programs, 
and 
projects 
concerning 
the 
Uyghurs; 
(2) vigorously promote the policy of seeking to 
protect the distinct ethnic, religious, cultural, and 
linguistic identity of the Uyghurs and seek improved 
respect for human rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur 
Autonomous Region (XUAR);
(3) maintain close contact with Uyghur reli-
gious, cultural, and political leaders, including seek-
ing regular travel to the XUAR and to Uyghur pop-
ulations in Central Asia, Turkey, Albania, Germany, 
and other parts of Europe; 
(4) lead coordination efforts for the release of 
political prisoners in the XUAR who are being de-
tained for exercising their human rights; 
(5) consult with the United States Congress on 
policies relevant to the XUAR and the Uyghurs; 
(6) coordinate with relevant Federal agencies to 
administer aid to Uyghur rights advocates; and 
(7) make efforts to establish contacts with for-
eign ministries of other countries, especially in Eu-
rope, Central Asia, and members of the Organisation 
of Islamic Cooperation, to pursue a policy of pro-
moting greater respect for human rights and reli-
gious freedom for Uyghurs and other ethnic and re-
ligious minority groups persecuted in the PRC. 
(e) SUPPORT.—The Secretary of State shall ensure 
the Special Coordinator has adequate resources, staff, and 
administrative support to carry out this section. 
(f) DEADLINE.—If the Secretary of State has not 
designated the Special Coordinator by the date that is 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report detailing the rea-
sons for the delay. 
(g) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 
the date that is five years after the designation of the Spe-
cial Coordinator. 
SEC. 5. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD ON 
THE UYGHUR SITUATION. 
(a) FUNDING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES.—Of 
the amounts authorized to be appropriated for the U.S. 
Speaker Program in the Bureau of Educational and Cul-
tural Affairs of the Department of State, $250,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024 is authorized 
to be available for human rights advocates on behalf of 
the Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious 
minority groups persecuted in the PRC, whose names may 
be provided by the Department of State and the United 
States Special Coordinator for Uyghur Issues in consulta-
tion with representatives of the global Uyghur community, 
to speak at public diplomacy forums in Organisation of 
Islamic Cooperation countries and other regions on issues 
regarding the human rights and religious freedom of 
Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minor-
ity groups persecuted in the PRC.
(b) UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA.— 
It is the sense of Congress that the United States Agency 
for Global Media should facilitate the unhindered dissemi-
nation of information to Organisation of Islamic Coopera-
tion countries on issues regarding the human rights and 
religious freedom of Uyghurs and members of other mi-
nority groups in the XUAR. 
SEC. 6. ACCESS TO DETENTION FACILITIES AND PRISONS 
AND THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON POLITICAL REEDUCA-
TION AND DETENTION FACILITIES.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the United States Government should, in 
cooperation with other like-minded countries, develop a 
strategy to— 
(1) pressure the People’s Republic of China to 
immediately close all detention facilities and ‘‘polit-
ical reeducation’’ camps housing Uyghurs and mem-
bers of other ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR); and 
(2) support the United Nations Commissioner 
for Human Rights and numerous United Nations 
Special Rapporteurs’ urgent calls for immediate and 
unhindered access to detention facilities and ‘‘polit-
ical reeducation’’ camps in the XUAR by inde-
pendent international organizations and the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights for a comprehensive assessment of the 
human rights situation. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRISON ACCESS AND 
PRISONER RELEASE.—It is the sense of Congress that the 
President and Secretary of State, in meetings with rep-
resentatives of the Government of the People’s Republic 
of China, should— 
(1) request the immediate and unconditional re-
lease of all prisoners detained for their ethnic, cul-
tural, religious, and linguistic identities, or for ex-
pressing their political or religious beliefs in the 
XUAR; 
(2) seek access for international humanitarian 
organizations, including the International Federation 
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to pris-
oners in the XUAR to ensure such prisoners are not 
being mistreated and are receiving necessary medical 
care; and 
(3) seek the immediate release of all prisoners 
who have been arbitrarily detained and sentenced 
without due process, including Ekpar Asat, who par-
ticipated in the Department of State’s International 
Visitors Leadership Program in 2016, was incarcer-
ated after returning to the XUAR, and is now serv-
ing a 15 year prison sentence on charges of ‘‘inciting 
ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination’’. 
SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT FOR UYGHUR LANGUAGE TRAINING. 
The Secretary of State shall ensure that Uyghur lan-
guage training is available to Foreign Service officers as 
appropriate, and that every effort is made to ensure that 
a Uyghur-speaking member of the Foreign Service (as 
such term is described in section 103 of the Foreign Serv-
ice Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3903)) is assigned to United 
States diplomatic and consular missions in China. 
SEC. 8. UYGHUR CONSIDERATIONS AT THE UNITED NA-
TIONS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the United States Government should op-
pose any efforts to prevent consideration of the 
issues related to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous 
Region (XUAR) in any body of the United Nations; 
(2) the United States Government should op-
pose any efforts to prevent the participation of any 
Uyghur human rights advocates in nongovernmental 
fora hosted by or otherwise organized under the aus-
pices of any body of the United Nations; and 
(3) the Secretary of State should instruct the 
United States Permanent Representative to the 
United Nations to support the appointment of a spe-
cial rapporteur or working group for the XUAR for 
the purposes of monitoring human rights violations 
and abuses in the XUAR, and for making reports 
available to the High Commissioner for Refugees, 
the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the 
Human Rights Commission, the General Assembly, 
and other United Nations bodies. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 1, 
2022. 
Attest: 
Clerk.