The US House Republicans are currently drafting a new bill aimed at reinstating sanctions on the “Forensic Science Research Institute” under the Ministry of Public Security of the Chinese Communist Party that were lifted during the Trump era and revoked by the Biden administration in November 2023.
Fox News reported on Thursday (June 27) that the new bill was introduced by Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee on Wednesday and is jointly led by John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House China Task Force, and Elise Stefanik, Chair of the House Republican Conference.
Ogles told Fox News, “Now is the time for the US to stand up against human rights violators, … Congress must take the lead.”
He criticized the authoritarian Chinese government as “longtime human rights abusers, with a dirty history.”
Stefanik said, “This Communist Chinese company has committed genocide and human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other minority groups. This bill to re-list the Chinese Forensic Science Research Institute in the ‘Entity List’ will bring us back to President Trump’s ‘peace through strength’ strategy and ensure that American technology does not benefit Chinese human rights abusers.”
The bill also has support from 10 co-sponsors, all of whom are House Republicans. Conservative groups such as Heritage Action and America First Policy Institute are also backing the bill.
In May 2020, the Trump administration sanctioned nine entities, including the Chinese Forensic Science Research Institute.
At that time, news reports stated that the institute was “involved in the oppression, large-scale arbitrary detention, forced labor, and high-tech surveillance of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, colluding with China in human rights violations and abuse.”
The sanctions were lifted in November last year, as the US was seeking cooperation from China to combat synthetic drugs and fentanyl precursor trafficking groups within its borders to prevent drugs from entering the US.
At the time, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “As we assessed this issue and weighed all the benefits of delisting the ‘Forensic Science Research Institute’ from the sanctions list, we ultimately decided that given China’s willingness to take steps to reduce precursor trafficking, this was an appropriate step.”