China's internal policies are not subject to the whims of the US Congress. End of story.
14
Trump doesn't care about human rights, he only cares about commerce. Saudi Arabia can torture and murder US based journalists, and he has shown that he doesn't care, so why should he care about the Uyghurs. There's no profit in it!
8
Congress should make Trump to back human rights in the United States.
6
Let’s interfere in the politics of a sovereign nation. What a great idea!!!!
15
Paul, Rubio et al wring hands over human rights globally but line right up with Trump on abuses to the rights of AMERICAN citizens. Blacks. women, Jews and LGBTQ rights are being abused and protective legislation weakened while evangelicals and others popular with Trump prevail.
16
@kathyinct, To cite one instance of international intrusion, the economic pressure put on South Africa greatly helped end apartheid in that country.
3
We should also address the mass leftist cultural and political indoctrination in our own public schools and universities.
12
What exactly is “leftist culture”? Do you mean respect for others regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or gender?
Do you mean envisioning a nation where everyone has health care and no one goes bankrupt paying for it?
A nation where people who work earn living wages?
13
Details please on this “indoctrination.”
6
I’m saying this seriously. I think he’s looking for a new father figure, even in these younger proxies. I look to see sometimes if anyone has further explored his relationship with his dad, Fred Trump, which was discussed at some length in the NYTimes expose about how he got his money. I have found only an article in The Guardian from March 2016, which quotes The Art of the Deal:
“I was never intimidated by my father, the way most people were,” Trump wrote in The Art of the Deal. “I stood up to him, and he respected that.” It probably says something that, in Trump’s world, this amounted to a close relationship. “
Too funny when kids of the rich and powerful admire themselves for standing up to their powerful daddies, as though they could even possibly be compared to the others in their fathers’ orbits. But that aside, I think Trump is reenacting his relationship with his father through these other strongmen. He comes at everything like a spoiled, petulant, self-absorbed child and I just can his father out of anything he does. But maybe I’m reenacting. My dad’s name is Fred too.
But he wasn’t pretend born in Germany.
2
While conceding a "growing sense by some" that Trump "hasn’t prioritized human rights in [his] broader foreign policy,” Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio manages an unconvincing defense by saying, “I don’t think that’s necessarily accurate." What kind of morally flabby and disingenuous deflection is that?
Trump's almost obsequious admiration for "strongmen" like Xi, Putin, Duterte, Bolsanaro, Orban, Erdogan, bin Salman, el-Sisi--one might even add Netanyahu, if one considers treatment of non-citizens in occupied territory--underscores Sen. Murphy's observation that Trump "celebrat[es] leaders who are the worst human rights abusers.”
Trump shows a similar kind of disregard for human rights when it comes to those within his jurisdictional reach--citizen and non-citizen alike. It's just that he is not in a position--yet-- to exercise his impulses so freely beyond a stream of rhetorical violence.
But his admiration for brutal leaders abroad gives us the measure of his own authoritarian squalor. We should pay attention.
10
Will Congress prepare for the consequences of taking on China on this issue? Will Congress prepare for a hot war with China and not just the economic one going on now? Will Democrats in particular-cease their constitution damaging impeachment follies against Trump that weaken America in the eyes of our enemies and allies?
3
I'd like the Congress and President to take a more active stand on human rights in the US.
12
Being tough in private can be more effective that public virtue signaling. Causing Xi to lose face in public could result in Chinese people to circle the wagons. Trades sanctions on China has done more to undercut Xi than words.Some previous administrations have talked tough to advisories in public only to be overly accommodating in private.
6
Speaking of bi-partisan initiatives, before we go outside our country, there are a number of issues at home. Where are we on Gun Control, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Income Inequality, Lowering Drug Prices, Election Security, and those others on the longer list ? Do we know how many Bills are now piled up on the desk of the Senate Majority Leader?
Both sides of the aisle should first make it a priority to find the solutions to the people's needs at home. That is why they are all elected to Office.
10
Insofar as the existence of a divine power is clearly accepted here while the Chinese goverment is an atheist society, I wonder if there is much of a difference.
Our politicians without exception voice their acceptance of a divinity, allow religious institutions of almost any sort to remain tax free and emblazon our coinage with the words "In God We Trust" while the Chinese government does not accept any religious believers in their ranks and in fact states itself to be an atheist nation.
In a sense we are forced to accept the existence of a divinity while the Chinese are forced to reject the same.
Where is reason?
1
Notice the little disclaimer Marco Rubio slips in to his statement about prioritizing human rights..."I don't think that is necessarily accurate...but that sense has grown....."
"Not necessarily?" Come on, Senator Rubio, you can do better than that wishy-washy statement.
3
It would be commendable if Congress FIRST worked on a bipartisan effort to develop a workable national immigration policy, one that included ending our own cruel abuse of human rights of the children our country has caged in poor conditions at the border. It is hypocritical to call out China for human rights violations; China should turn right around and call out the U.S.
8
Sometimes I think we have too much money and time that we don't know what to do with them. We have to invent something evil that we can talk about and deal with it.
But in fact, we have too many domestic problems to deal with but we are not willing to face them. We have perpetual wars going on. We have national debt and budget deficit every year. We have healthcare crisis that Democratic candidates are waging war on healthcare. We have infrastructure disasters waiting to happen. We have immigration crisis. We have education problems due to lack of funding. We have homeless problem getting more and wide spread. We have gun problems killing people without age discrimination. We have problems, period. And we don't need any foreign enemy in mind to fight about.
HK does not a democracy problem. Under capitalistic society, she has an inequality problem. HK does not have democracy before under the British rule, and now at least she has democracy to a certain degree under HK's own governance.
I don't know what our congress is thinking and dreaming about HK. What they are doing, I think, is symbolic and no real value to HK people. It is a real shame.
2
There is more to worry about with regard to the Uighur as it relates to general policy emanating from Beijing under the "One Belt One Road" (OBOR) initiative. There is quite some evidence that the Rohingya people along the Bangladesh-Myanmar (Burma) border are being "moved along" by the Burmese government at the behest of Beijing. The huge flux of refugees created into Bangladesh by this conflict is putting strains on this emerging democracy.
Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, after a trip to Beijing, described the OBOR initiative as "the new colonialism". This suggests further study into the effects of OBOR as a coherent global strategy and policy, of which the fate of the Tibetans, Uighur, Rohingya are examples. Indebtedness strains democracies. Massive debts to China incurred by small nation states threatens democracies in those countries - Samoa, Vanuatu, Papua-New Guinea being examples.
There is considerable research to be done in Africa about the renewed attacks on Indigenous peoples in Africa whose ancestral homelands cover resource rich areas. If Mahathir Mohamad's views are correct and Beijing is engaged in a "new colonialism", given what we now know about how colonialism caused massive movements of Indigenous peoples within countries, what might now happen on the global scale with OBOR?
4
I cannot see where we have any right to change China to our ways. We can't seem to run our own business properly ae Ukraine, Afghanistan, etc.
5
Think of the Uighur as an inconvenient population "in the way of" Beijing's expansion may help shed some light on what is happening. Imagine the uproar if Washington or Ottawa insisted that one's racial origins appear on one's birth certificate - for example, "Caucasian", "African", "Chinese", yet one's racial origin is listed on the Chinese birth certificate ("Medical Certificate of Birth" as it is called).
There is considerable evidence that the Rohingya are being "moved along" as an inconvenient population in the way of Beijing's "One Belt One Road" (OBOR) initiative, the dirty work being done by the Myanmar government.
Western capitalism may be silly, but it isn't brain-dead. If real money was to be made by pouring billions of dollars into providing infrastructure to small Pacific island nation states, e.g. Samoa, Papua-New Guinea, Vanuatu, then it would have been done. Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia described Beijing's OBOR initiative as "the new colonialism". The West is put into an invidious position of trying to match, $ for $, economically pointless 'investments'. Alternately, watch what happens to small governments that owe money to Beijing. China already knows what it will get away with - think of the Structural Adjustment Programs inflicted by the World Bank and IMF during the '70s and '80s.
The fate of the Uighur is actually a 'testing of the wind' on what Beijing can get away with - if nothing is done then Beijing knows what it can get away with, anywhere.
1
Congress can push all it wants, but the pardoner of war criminals, abandoner of the Kurds, abettor of Saudi murderers, will not be moved.
8
Interesting attention to H Rights, providing it doesn't apply to USA. Reminds me of the great Thomas Jefferson who believed that everyone was equal. Except his own slaves, of course.
10
Trump is a coward and the kind of bully who throws rocks then hides behind mommy's back. He'll bully women, kids, people from different countries, and seniors, but he won't stand up to China, Russia, North Korea, or Saudi Arabia. He's too scared - and other countries know this. He was impeached - now get him out of office!
10
While they are at it, how about congress also press for the president to condemn illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine?
You have no credibility if you pick and choose on human rights issues.
15
Love the sentence uttered by Rubio, " There's been a sense that Congress needs to step up."
With all that trump has done and all the degradation and hatred trump has displayed and encouraged others to display since he became "president" toward people in this country, Rubio is correct. Congress does need to step up. On many fronts.
He lies, he doesn't listen to people, he storms ahead without even knowing what he is doing. He associates with dictators and ignores our allies.. I guess 40% of the country thinks those behaviors are admirable.
The Republican Senate needs to get their act together and hold this "president" responsible.
10
Regardless of who actually said it, i firmly believe that the true worth of a society or civilization is how they regard and treat its weakest members. Since we live in an increasingly small world, this principle applies on a global scale as well: what we deem abhorrent or unacceptable in our own country, we should soundly condemn in other countries as well - and do whatever we can to prevent or stop, whenever possible. The time is past when each of the world's 200+ states should be permitted to mistreat those within their borders however they see fit to: we are an increasingly global society. Trump and those like him, however, don;t appear to believe that the strong should protect the weak, that the wealthy should help the poor, that the healthy should help the sick, or that the free should help the oppressed: they seem to take a much more Hobbsian view or humanity - ie., that of "survival of the fittest", applied to humanity in general. Hmmmmm..... where have we seen this type of thinking taken to its logical extreme... where? Where?
3
Trump's "response" to this action by Congress will probably be tweets about the betrayal to HIM. How DARE they plan a move that he can't use his unlimited "power" to impose his own will?
Besides, since it's already been announced he can't claim credit for the whole idea like he does with everything else.
Just as likely, he'll float the idea that he could just declare another "national emergency" to get his way. It worked all the other times, right?
The entire "intent" of this action will simply go over his head.
1
Anyone who thinks this Republican senate will stand up to Donald Trump on anything is dreaming. The Senators have no courage. If they will not rein in the president from soliciting aid from a foreign nation to trash one of his rivals for president, they certainly will not stand up for the Uighurs. Not one of the Republican senators so far has shown the courage of the Democratic Representatives from districts which Trump won and who voted for Trump's impeachment. Trump can do anything he wants and get away with it. Mitch McConnell has sneeringly gone along with gutting the Constitution of its restraint on the president, the ability to impeach, about the only restraint granted to restrain a rogue president.
5
Yes the treatment of the Uyghurs is a terrible violation of human rights. But aren't we being a bit hypocritical, considering the way the current administration treats immigrants at our southern border? Congress should be imposing sanctions on our own country. Pointing out how bad other countries are is just a way to deflect attention from our own bad behavior.
7
@John There is a process for becoming an immigrant. Been there, done that.
It is done before entering the country. Not by breaking the law and demanding acceptance.
2
The onslaught of aggressive policies toward China in a last few months by bipartisan Congress has more to do with preserving and salvaging America's hegemonic global standing, to which Trump has systematically undermined for three years, than to protect human rights of Muslims the U.S. themselves have "unintentionally" harmed in the millions over the decades in their Middle Eastern conquests for oil.
1
More important it is to display bipartisan spirit on impeaching Trump who poses a grave threat to the US and its constitutional order rather than on the human rights violations in China though, that roo can not be ignored but, can be taken up after the impeachment. Sumply a question of priorities only.
3
Whatever "punishing" China is about, it is not about achieving change there. Imagine a foreign country "punishing" the US for something. How would the US react?
7
I wish this Congress would spend more time trying to fix our domestic problems and less time telling other countries how to fix theirs.
6
The U.S. really should take a moment to reflect on whether our meddling in the internal affairs of so many other countries is accomplishing anything worthwhile. It didn't work out too well in Vietnam, Korea, Syria, Libya, Iraq and Iran to name a few. Now I wonder how things are going in the Ukraine. Speaking of drug deals it really does seem like sanctioning other countries is an addiction. And I guess Congress is just as strung out as the presidents.
I know the cause this article is about is a good cause, but even if the best of intentions on our part is assumed , will our interference really make things better? Don't we have enough to worry about here in this country? I think so.
5
The U.S. really should take a moment to reflect on whether our meddling in the internal affairs of so many other countries is accomplishing anything worthwhile. It didn't work out too well in Vietnam, Korea, Syria, Libya, Iraq and Iran to name a few. Now I wonder how things are going in the Ukraine. Speaking of drug deals it really does seem like sanctioning other countries is an addiction. And I guess Congress is just as strung out as the presidents.
I know the cause this article is about is a good cause, but even if the best of intentions on our part is assumed , will our interference really make things better? Don't we have enough to worry about here in this country? I think so.
President Trump’s reluctance to protest authoritarian leaders’ cruel treatment of minorities in their countries makes perfect sense when you look at how he treats Central American immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers at our southern border, especially the families with children.
Human rights abusers understand and support one another.
3
How refreshing to read that members of Congress are attempting to do something useful for a change.
A pre-requisite of criticising other countries for human rights abuse is for every country, including the USA and my own UK, to address its own on-going practices. Yes criticise but we must also do something about the mote in our own eye.
1
So once again, the civilian government has been manipulated by the military that put forth their "Pivot To Asia" strategy at the end of the Iraq war and the wind down in Afghanistan. They are a military always in search of a war to stay in business and you all just reflexively followed the media intensity. Many times I have written here that Television sparks wars because people watch too much of the indelibly influential visual medium.
This time, the Congress appears to be trying to force Trump into a compassionate view of others, something only remotely possible. But beyond the present people getting daily upset, what about the long term? How about human rights violations here at home? Or is it the idea to divert attention away from our own national problems, an age old strategy of leaders through man's history?
The first step is to control your emotions and knee jerk reactions to everything you see on Television. The producers are not in the business of boring people. Your reactions are their accomplishments. So recognize that visual sensationalism can undo the world.
If there is bipartisan support in addressing human rights abuses in the world and you feel Trump is totally unresponsive to your ideas, then channel all the disgust and outrage over his inaction into the impeachment trial and vote. Our nation is faced with more than just two articles of impeachment. Don't obscure your intent. Vote to remove Trump.
"...said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “I don’t think that’s necessarily accurate... " Republican Senators use the same doublespeak as President Trump does when in fact they know full well that human rights is not a priority for this president and his administration. It is how truth gets distorted and then denied and finally ignored.
1
Trump has working relations with China and open lines of communication. The human rights issue is best dealt with in the United nations (UN) since it is the internal affairs of China and China is a permanent member of the UN and human rights is the issue that UN has to deal with. US Congress should refrain from interfering in the affairs of China. China is sensitive to such interference and will not take kindly to it. Trump admin. has worked very hard to develop decent working relations and has brought a sea change in its interactions and it is best to leave some stones unturned.
Congress has done no favors to Trump. Why should the prez of the USA have had to ask a favor of a simple investigation of a corrupt company from a Ukraine prez??? The partisan impeachment was uncalled for, unnecessary , shoddy and illegal and that is why Nancy is antsy about forwarding to the senate trial. Why should Trump do anything for congress that has been so hostile to him? That does not mean private Americans are not for human rights of all humans but don't tie the hands of our president in executing his campaign promises and for once let him solve America's problems and address its own imperfections 1st.
In my hometown, I drove downtown to see the lights on Christmas day evening. For the first time in decades, a person sneaked up from no where and told me he was from NY and had no money to buy food could I give him change. I did, but it brought home the problem of homeless in urban US.
3
Trump has no interest in protecting human rights; what a
futile effort; try asking Mitch McConnell if he and his cronies
have moral views on human rights in China; or perhaps
human rights with regard to immigrants who are escaping
from Latin America who have their children impounded.
Trump is devoid of empathy; you know this; but where do
others stand about human rights....please do not be so foolish
by asking Trump who has proven to be a man of little concern for others.
3
This ought to be good for about a tweet a day for six months or so and energize Trump supporters to guaranteed his reelection.
1
We raced in the Gobi Desert out of Kashgar and near Xinjiang in 2012. Already at that time the Chinese government was actively moving huge numbers of Hun Chinese into newly built apartments in the area to dilute the Uighur population. Hun Chinese could receive government patents for marrying and having children with Uighurs as a means of further diluting the culture. The language that Uighur children could speak in school and clothing they could wear was also government regulated.
Genocide is not just about killing the body, but about destroying the culture. Like Tibetans, the prospects for the Uighur are poor.
1
It’s astounding to see a country that’s responsible for over a million total deaths in Iraq, a country that hasn’t invaded the US, lecture others on human rights!
The evidence was deliberately cooked up and no one served time for it!
I guess leading by example has no meaning.
And irony is completely dead!
How incredible is our collective hypocrisy and groupthink?
2
Rubio sums it up with a "sense" something isn't quite right. Bold! Effective! Senseless. . .
Yeah, good luck with that. Let us know how that goes since the senate is completely and totally in his pocket. Ah, democracy and the will of the people, how quaint...
Start in US where immigrant's kids separated by parents.
Protesters/rioters in HK who carry the American flag should be ashamed of themselves. They are ignorant of America's treatment of Chinese over the last 100 years. They need to get educated on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 AFTE Chinese laborers built the trans continental railroad with less pay and harder work than local American workers. Nothing worse than Chinese wanting to be white and despising their own people.
Trump seems to think that concentration camps for minorities are OK in China. Actually we have a situation like that a little closer to home: concentration camps for minorities on our southern border. Perhaps his reluctance to call the Chinese leadership out for these abuses might be that he himself might be next.
1
force trump's hand on human rights? come on...... he has no shame.
Trump and human rights is like mixing oil and water.
No doubt that’s high on list of the people who feed Trump his foreign policy.
The people cheering Trump’s amorality and opportunism better start figuring out a) how capitalism is spozed to work, and b) that if the wind shifts, their hero will cheerfully have them and theirs hurled into the Big Woodchipper without a single moment’s thought.
Oh, and while you’re at it, maybe give some thought to what happens, historically speaking, when you sit around and say nothing while a powerful, expansionist State starts kicking the dog snot out of its minorities.
It has already been said in these commentaries that the US legislative organ is expert at posturing with no intention of actually doing anything to end our silent cooperation with the abusers.
We have so many crimes against humanity in our own crib - crimes that we still gloss over when we teach our children the myths of the great democratic experiment we call our country:
the genocide of the indigenous people of the North American continent; the brutal enslavement of Africans and the subsequent toleration of Jim Crow that still lives on in the purging of voter rolls and police violence against people of color, are among the low-hanging fruit on our tree.
FDR's cabinet was rife with antisemites and turned Jewish children and adults away from our shore and to their deaths. Our participation in WWII only began when our own "property" was attacked. That we now have a president who would probably eat his own children if he were hungry enough, makes it more urgent than ever that we stand as a voting bloc and throw this walking crime against humanity out of office.
Congress imposed sanctions on Russia and trump elected not to impose them, and only last year, McConnell lifted sanctions on Manafort business partner Oleg Deripaska.
As long as China is approving trump's family business patents and trademarks, he will never impose sanctions regardless of a Congressional veto proof vote.
10
The horrible treatment of the Uyghur minority cannot go unchallenged, but it is not the only action of China that has had extremely negative consequences for others. It's actions in claiming nearly the entire South China Sea as its own have impinged on legal and historical fishing rights for many of the nations that border that body of water. The terms of the financing of the infrastructure of its Belt and Road Initiative are often so one sided, and perhaps deliberately so, that developing countries in which those projects are built default and China then takes full ownership. Let us not forget, too, the rollout of a complete surveillance and behavioral modification state on all its own people!
What may be needed is a full assessment of China's behavior both toward its own citizens and toward the citizens of the world. It is beyond unfortunate that the impetus for such a review is the appalling situation of this minority.
7
We're concerned about human rights in China? That's a laugh, when our government has denied human rights to thousands of children at the border who were taken away from their parents, and no records were kept as to who the parents are.
These are not animals, these are innocent children. These children are going to suffer emotional damage for years to come. Not to mention the emotional grief the parents must be going through. Let's look in our own backyard before we criticize what other countries are doing
24
Yep. Thanks to Trump, we can no longer claim the moral high ground on the issue of human rights.
@uras: The common denominator in not sanctioning foreign human rights abuses and committing domestic human rights abuses is Trump. Republicans should realize that. Democrats do. But also, two wrongs do not make a right. It’s good that Democrats can find common ground on something worth wile, and that Republicans can draw a line for Trump not to pass.
@Joe When have we ever really been able to claim the moral high ground?
Xinjiang has been in and out of China though the centuries, in with Ming, in and out with the Qing, and back with Mao in 1950.
Many of the people there would prefer Turkestan their invention but the majority is now Han due to immigration and Beijing has a development plan to industrialize and raise the living standards of northwestern China, the internment programs is aimed at that and an awkward attempt to control Islamic violence.
Compare that with Iraq, Afghanistan, and the rise of ISIS. Or the six western states carved out of Mexican possession. China may fair better
Trump supports all oppressive dictators wherever he can find them...those dictators stroke trump’s back (ie..Putin), trump looks away so they can kill their citizen enemies...trump would love to get away with this here.
4
Trump is an Alice-in-Wonderland type of president, not a logical, moral or intellectual type. Don’t expect him to care about people - he’s into power types. There are people all over the world experiencing horrible situations. While it’s nice that politicians want to scold China for their treatment of Uighurs, there are so many U.S. policies that hurt people everywhere. Our gun fetish is killing people - both here in the U.S. as well as all countries south. Because we pander to drug companies, they don’t have one humanitarian or community-related bone in their corporate bodies. We can’t even be kind to children in the U.S., ensuring everyone has a safe home, sound education or good health. Politicians are hypocrites.
9
@Barbara Snider:
SPOT-ON.
Really, Trump, lifting a hand to help Muslims?If they were white Christians brutally punished and mistreated, he would definitely would do something about it.
2
@BB , you really think so? What has Trump and the United States done to help the millions of Christians being persecuted in Muslim lands?
1
What's in it for him? The millions of Chinese in re-education camps are not going to buy his condos or give him any votes.
I don't think Trump would help anyone. You hold Trump in too high regard.
Display kindness but keep the hound at their heels and let them know the leash is in your hands.
1
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Human rights are given to some of us by God, our creator. Other cultures and tribes – “Chinese” “Buddhist” Hindi” among others, do not have a creator, homo sapiens is part of cosmos, and nature does not give any species special rights. “Human rights” is a Western cultural concept, and the more we enforce it upon people believing in other concepts of existence, the more we lose. Let us honor our conviction in our societies and accept what seems to be a growing awareness in some cultures, the Indian – Hindi culture as example, of their differences from ours. We may not like it – but it may prove to be a good principle in the world to come.
2
@kjeld hougaard, clarification: Hindi is a language. There is no Hindi culture. There is Hindu culture...But that too is diverse as Hindus worship thousand images of Gods and Goddesses, and even have atheists and agnostics. Hindus belong to many cultures, language groups and nations. Indian culture is different from Hindu culture, though one influences the other. Hinduism is very secular and tolerant...a little too tolerant on certain matters, which is why laws have been weak in India. It is getting better.. Hope this was helpful.
3
@kjeld:
The "world to come" is quite likely to be far more dystopian than your optimism suggests: for most of humanity money has become the defacto god that is pursued, yearned for, and worshipped for itself, despite protestations to the contrary.
Until and unless mankind has a sudden moment of enlightenment, such that we all invest in saving our one and only planet from the tipping point of Global Warming, the concept of wealth will be moot.
Given that, as a species, we still have the appalling capacity to incarcerate people simply on the basis of race and/or religious beliefs, as the Chinese are doing their Moslem population, there's precious little evidence to suggest that we can actually arise to the rumored level of our intelligence in sufficient time and degree to save ourselves from self extinction. This would require a sharp decrease in global population growth, and far, far more attention to the environment.
Yeah, good luck with that.
And we persist to congratulate ourselves as being the most intelligent species on Earth. Such hubris.
1. You collapsed “God,” and “Creator,” together, of course. The guy who wrote the document you’re trashing, Jefferson, did not.
2. His point was to say that human rights—to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” whatever that means—was that these rights remain a’ obvious to anybody, b) universal.
3. Neither Myanmar nor India offer lovely examples of what happens when you decide that this group or that group fails to be as human as you are.
4. And that’s what you’re arguing for—the ugly proposition that some are less human—not respect for differences within the human family.
And then there is India where in Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government has cast two hundred million Muslims as internal enemies with uninvestigated murders common, and the autonomous region of Kashmir under military occupation.
But this is an American ally in the modernize Cold War – not an area of Congressional concern where Human Rights is redefined as needed.
One does not expect clear thinking from that collective in any range any more.
7
@wsmrer:
Well stated.
Punish China? How? We’re already imposing trade restrictions. Are we to abandon our trade policies in order to concentrate on human rights abuses? The two goals don’t mesh and trying to mix them up will only result in incoherence which will achieve nothing.
6
It’s true, if there isn’t money involved the trumpy monkey has no interest.
@Edward:
Yes, why bother with such a minor matter as the well-being of our fellow humans, especially viz-à-viz trade?
After all, Money is God.
How do you "punish" China? The Chinese have the largest domestic economy, second to none.
The Chinese spend on their military, domestically, the same as we do.
Not sure you can punish the Chinese leadership without punishing a large amount of people, both Chinese and non-Chinese.
5
Let's say a president started a trade war to bribe a foreign state into providing dark money or favors (like providing $10 million of social media campaign support). The president's position would suffer if human rights issues came up that might compromise his private negotiations.
3
Whilst commendable, this is still "paper tiger" law-making. The policies being implemented in Xinjiang Province come from the Central Committee. Fundamentally, unless this policy is directed at the leadership of China, then it is useless. The Uighur people are indeed doomed. China uses the existence of its one party state to assert that everything it does has the support of everyone in China. It teaches its children that criticism of Chinese policy is criticism of the Chinese people through this line of reasoning. Criticism of Chinese people is dealt with as "racism" relying on western definitions of "racism". It's not clear how the Chinese government will be "chastised" in any way by the Act, given that China has all necessary technology. About as effective as banning Krupp from selling steel during World War II...
69
As a Chinese citizen, I am amazed that all your analysis of the Chinese government is true.
10
@Peter Woof It may be a fairly impotent move, but I don't think it will be 'useless' as it's written now. Optics matter, and they especially seem to matter for the CCP leadership. It's not a perfect measure, but would be one long step in the right direction.
6
If they could, Republicans would do the exact same thing. It’s just not politic at the moment. Bad optics. But fascism is now fine with them. They’re all in. They are just hoping that Trump wins and after that, whatever. They are irredeemable and will do anything - anything - to retain power, even pretend to care about human rights overseas, while they work diligently and assiduously to destroy voting rights and the rest of our rights here. Hypocrisy is so ingrained in Republicanism it becomes invisible to the Fox addled voters who will gratefully accept the tyranny they will serve up if they triumph in 2020. And Democrats are fools to think this bipartisan maneuver means anything. To Republicans everything is just a means to an ends. No more. No less.
4
This is playing political football with Muslims. Uighers need to be singled
out for concern and punishment of
China but Kashmiris and brutalization of Indians protesting against the attack on
the constitution and secularism to
be ignored. What hypocrisy of the
congress!
7
How about Pakistan’s treatment of Sikh and Hindu minorities?
India is a democracy with a track record of government changing hands. So they have internal corrective mechanisms.
China on the other hand is an authoritarian government and Pakistan is a failed state exporting terrorism!
If we push for further interference in China's internal affairs, as Congress seems to want, we're going to undermine and endanger the new trade agreement, throwing away the accomplishments of years of efforts.
Utterly stupid to impose more sanctions. Don't people know anything. If you try to force something on someone or some country by manipulation and intimidation, their likely response, if they have any backbone, will be "up yours", and rightly so.
It is disrespectful to try and force them into conformity and compliance using threats.
Personally, I don't mind at all being convinced to do something by a logical or ethical argument, but I won't tolerate and will not allow myself to be manipulated, by any means.
3
@Raz : One million+ Uighers in Chinese concentration camps, & you've decided that U.S. pressure is "disrespectful"?!
Oh, the horror! Such "unmanipulatable" rigidity is beyond redemption. Reagan is spinning underground.
3
You have swallowed the Trump line. The Chinese have got evening they want from the so called agreement so why should it be in danger.
2
@Raz:
Given the situation at hand, and your preference for trade agreements ($$$) over the well being of people (the imprisonment of thousands, purely on the basis of ethnicity which, the last I checked, is an accident of birth, rather than a political stance) tells us that you're the über definition of the modern GOP.
When you hit the pillow tonight thank your lucky stars that b you weren't born in the wrong place at the wrong time . . .
1
Whatever credibility on human rights our country had prior to the 2016 election is not only gone, it's extinct. Human rights, in and of themselves, are anathema to Trump and his cult.
Family separations at the southern border, incarceration of children, immigration policies based on religion are some of the signature outrages, but consider the vile and malice-intended pardon of a convicted war criminal Navy noncom. Such poisonous gestures are the in-your-face insults to the world that say the US answers to no one; what are you going to do about it?
And before we get all up in arms what aboutism on China's ghastly and criminal treatment of their Uyghur minorities, Turkey's genocide on Armenia, or the US-complicit bombing of civilians by the Saudis, they too have nowhere to hide. Human rights don't get graded on a curve.
We won't square justice for all these victims any time soon, even after we wash away the raw sewage of Trump-cult governance with an election in eleven months, but it will allow more of the world to breathe a tiny bit easier.
6
@JS You do know we sold more weapons to the Saudi's during the Obama administration than any before it - I don't think I need to tell you of the human rights abuses there against other nations in the region. Try to see past the blue wall.
3
And please don't forget the same offenses close at home by the very leader of our country, i.e., the treatment of the Kurds, immigrants from Central America and his hateful, venomous mouth directed at all human kind and most especially the vulnerable. He shames our country.
5
About time!
3
But Trump (at least), so pundits say, cares about Hong Kong. Does he really? One might suggest that he doesn't really care about any ethnic group other than a (small) subset of the white race?
5
Having domestic issues is not a reason that America should ignore torture and humiliation of millions of human beings. Yes, we need affordable healthcare and affordable education, but if we are so selfish to ignore abuse and misery of other human beings in China, Burma, Africa or South America, why would American rich care about the less fortunate Americans?
Please do not compare the immigration crisis at the US-Mexican border with concentration camps in China. These are completely different issues. Of course, no child should be separated from his/her mother. But allowing millions of people to migrate to the US is not a solution to the problem - those people should get help in their countries, so they don't have to flood US borders. That's also the reason to help the Uyghurs to stay where they belong, even if the Chinese criminals don't want them there.
7
Congress wants to take a stand against China's treatment of minorities. That's important. But if Congress really wants to do their job they would take a stand against Trump and his administration's human rights abuses at our borders. Censure him. And get to work on humanitarian immigration rules, not run by a racists president.
6
@Debra:
A M E N.
Congress is about to shoot itself in the foot. After punishing China for its human rights abuse, particularly of Muslims, it should be expected to punish India, Myanmar, and its best friend Israel.
5
Better to start with China than to do nothing at all.
5
How about France for banning burqa?
India has 200 million Muslims and a history with Islam that goes back to at least 12th century.
The arrogance and presumption that someone from the outside will dictate an ancient civilization how to get along is astounding!
1
Republicans (?): Yes, take care of them, but make sure they don’t *ALL* have healthcare, and also they can’t have abortions. Actually scratch that, we don’t need to provide healthcare.
1
@JTG the free
Its more twisted if the newly not oppressed live better than most Americans.
People have to be treated as individuals
2
I do not have enough information to offer an opinion on this particular subject. However, please google "Uighur" and "ISIS" together and you will see that the Uighurs are not uniformly innocent victims of Communist China. China may have a legitimate interest in forcing moderation upon the Uighurs, even though their method of going about it will no doubt backfire.
3
America guides others best by example. Stop selling arms, especially on credit is good, but it would mean we close our
armament shops! Even the Scandinavians who observe strict neutrality in all wars (till they are attacked) are bigtime arms merchants! In cases of impending-ongoing 'genocides', as in the Balkans during the 1990s, we, along with our allies took military action. Putting some non-biting sanction on the offender would be 'symbolism' or hypocrisy.
With regard to the Uighurs, China is doing what she successfully did and got away, half a century ago in Tibet and Inner Mongolia. Indeed, China does it now with the active cooperation of Jihadist Pakistan and, once secular and now Muslim Brotherhood, Erdogan's Turkey!
4
Trump isn't interested in the welfare of others, only in himself.
14
@operacoach
What a lazy way of thinking.
You know it's more complicated than that.
3
@Raz
Ok. In a really complicated way that has global significance in relation to humankind and the health of our planet, Trump only cares about himself.
3
@Raz
It's really no more complicated than that.
3
Ok, but how about we end the caging of child migrants at our border first. You know, glass houses and stones.
17
@Karen Ruel
Those at our southern border are not U.S. citizens.
We owe illegal immigrants NOTHING.
7
So "Lawmakers aim to pass veto-proof legislation in 2020 that would punish China over its treatment of ethnic Uighur Muslims." I applaud their compassion for the Uighers, but I would have appreciated it even more if they would show that same compassion for some human beings much closer to home, i.e., those people from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador seeking asylum within the borders of the United States and whose rights are being violated by the Trump Administration, right under the noses of these same law makers to boot. And while they intend to mete out punishment to the Chinese, they might wish to mete out some to the Trump Administration as well.
8
@steffie Yes, I agree. That will be Beijing's criticism of this legislation as well. The Central Committee will say something along the lines of "we only accept non-racist criticism from perfect governments" or something similar.
2
Should save this article and reference it the next time we decide to bomb some Muslim country. Our philosophies on terrorism is different. We believe in taking the fight to others and aggressively gather intelligence. China doesn’t have that luxury (no we do not share even terrorism related intel with China) and they are all about being defensive.
If there’s some third way that avoid the issues causes by the previous two, people should say it.
2
Punish China for human rights violations?
That’s fine.
It will also wreck any trade agreement with China.
That’s also fine.
But don’t support human rights sanctions and then criticize Trump for the trade disruptions it causes.
That wouldn’t be fine. It would just be hypocritical.
10
@John … if the U.S. really wants to punish China, U.S. corporations will follow-up on trump's suggestions of closing their overseas factories and bring all their manufacturing back to the U.S. (Of course, prices would sky rocket, so it would hurt Americans as much as the Chinese.)
2
@Mae T Bois The problem with your analysis is that the company that doesn’t move their production from Chins will be at a sudden advantage.
1
@Gugie True enough. China probably has all the intellectual property it needs to endure this. How easily the tech-giants turned over once they were told "how it is" to trade and manufacture in China.
2
It is good to see both Democratic and Republican members of the Congress recognize the need to condemn human rights abuses in China. However, it is hypocritical of them not to demonstrate significant outrage toward Trump and his henchman Steven Miller for the tragic humans rights violations occurring in our name at the southern border.
35
As someone who experienced totalitarianism first hand, I'll tell you that the ONLY way to save Western democracy is to untangle from China and Russia economically and to give them sharp elbow militarily. Read Churchill's Iron Curtain speech. It was true back in 1946, and it is even more true today - the only TIME PROVEN WINNING RECIPE against totalitarianism. --
"We cannot be blind to the fact that the liberties enjoyed by individual citizens throughout the United States and throughout the British Empire are not valid in a considerable number of countries, some of which are very powerful. In these States control is enforced upon the common people by various kinds of all-embracing police governments to a degree which is overwhelming and contrary to every principle of democracy. The power of the State is exercised without restraint, either by dictators or by compact oligarchies operating through a privileged party and a political police...
If the Western Democracies stand together in strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter, their influence for furthering those principles will be immense and no one is likely to molest them. If however they become divided of falter in their duty and if these all-important years are allowed to slip away then indeed catastrophe may overwhelm us all."
-- Winston Churchill, Iron Curtain speech, 1946
17
@NN The Central Committee has perfected the art of brain-washing as well. Unavailable to the immediate post World War II environment were the hordes of Communist Party cadre who monitor and steer social media. We should also ban "TikTok" and "WeChat" - try sending the URL to South Park's episode "Band In China" on either of those two media and see where it gets you. If Russia and China could steer elections in Western democracies, how much easier is it for the Central Committees to steer their citizens' thoughts?
3
@NN
Sir Winston's shelf life on freedom and liberty expired long before the sun set on the Empire. The citizens of India and Pakistan were notably without representation in governing until 1948, and then just barely. African, Asian, and Pacific colonies, see above.
Additionally, those individuals running governments in the US and UK were uniformly white, male, and Christian. He gets a pass on saving Western Europe from the Nazis, but for the record, Mr. Ghandi was more in tune with the principles of democracy than his principal antagonist.
4
One wonders why Republicans don’t take this opportunity to rid themselves of the man who has turned their Party into something unrecognizable. They would get Pence for a year, plenty of time to continue to install even more conservative judges which seem to be their main objective.
Pence brings the GOP the conservative minus the crazy. He speaks in complete sentences and often sounds like he might listen to advisors who know more than he does. The economy has proven they really are paying no attention to the president and just keeps moving along.
I would never vote for a Republican but I don’t understand how an entire Party so willingly sold their souls to Trump to ride the coattails of his popularity to the lowest common denominator among his supporters.
13
@Doris2001 Pence would satisfy the desire to entangle church and state thus a theocracy. And what would be his actions toward the LGBTQ nationwide?
Pence may speak in complete sentences but he is just as toxic as the carnival barker.
9
@Doris2001
Great comment, I completely agree with you. The tightly held grip Trump has on both his party and base is truly mind boggling, not to mention impossible to comprehend. It literally gives me severe headaches when I try to make sense of it all. Mind you, Pence is no angel himself, and I completely disagree with the entirety of his platform and policies. However, it’s quite depressing that a bible thumping, anti LGBTQ, vocal 21st century opponent of the ERA, and crusader of saving the status quo for the patriarchy and white male privilege is a better choice to lead the nation in comparison to the White House’s current occupant. Yet here we are. It’s all or nothing when it comes to the MAGA hatters and their almighty orange leader. No other politician will suffice
Unless one of Trump’s hidden talents is that he’s a master hypnotist who used this phenomenal skill to brainwash the GOP under a spell to adhere to his unquestionable authority.
Wait. Now that I think about it, I take that off the wall theory of mine back. The man can’t even figure out how to close an umbrella, for gods sake.
5
@Sarah Yes. True enough. Just think, if Trump can secure such a grip on the political thinking of "his base", how much more so does Putin and Xi on their base, putatively the entire populations of Russia and China respectively? It is astonishingly simplistic to assume that just because we, in the West, abhor totalitarianism that the peoples of Russia and China are automatically opposed to it.
2
This is shameless posturing. The Chinese have no use for the Uyghurs and they are treating them with unspeakable cruelty. Our response is to impose sanctions. Sanctions can't work because too few in China are hurt. What would work would be giving some of the Uyghurs free passage to the US.
We're talking 1 million people. And the rest of the world should share and 100,000 to the US would be a great contribution. We could even make it temporary and negotiate a better solution with the Chinese.
Those who say it's not our problem should ask whether we should have saved a similar number from Nazi concentration camps. Of course we should have. We didn't back then and we won't now. And I don't have to tell you why.
Spare me your praise for the sanctions. The right thing to do is to lend a helping hand to the Uyghurs. When minorities -- Jews, Uyghurs and many more -- face horrors abroad, the US has always and will always look the other way.
137
@michjas Trump support human rights? Joking; right?
16
@michjas
Over 5 billion people in this world live on less than $10/day.
Should we let them all come to the U.S. as well? A horrible solution. These people, including the Uighurs, need to helped in their own countries.
18
@michjas
Why is this a Times pick? Maybe the Uighurs want to live their lives in peace in their homeland, instead of being rounded up by the CCP. There are ten million or so of them, not one million. And Beijing has already begun to feel international pressure because of the press's coverage. Legislation sanctioning the bad guys can only help - and it's certainly not "looking the other way".
18
What, exactly, is Trump supposed to do? We already have tariffs in place. Sanction individuals? If we do will they care much? Start another war like the disaster in Vietnam? China is a nuclear power and our economy has many links to them. China holds a great deal of our debt. Should we tell them we're not good for it and we'll never pay the back? Human rights are important but with a country like China, our efforts are only feel good efforts.
40
@Mike F. Not true, sanctions can bite deep, take Russia for example. Russia was so desperate to get rid of US led sanctions that they interfered with the 2016 election. Russia is doing it right now before the 2020 election by manipulating our social media in order to influence how people will vote or by trying to suppress people's votes.
43
@Mike F. Our "president" can simply go on record condemning China's policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Whether or not that accomplishes anything isn't really the point. Demonstrating his disgust with foreign despots would at least show that our leaders were on the same page as their citizens .
30
@Mike F.
What exactly us trump to do?
Resign for starters
39
It is heartening to witness both sides of the aisle in Congress not only working together but also for the valiant cause of protecting our global communities' and neighbors' precious and deserved human rights. But this is not enough. If the Congress aspires to be humanitarian in its quests, it needs to pass bilateral and veto-proof legislation that will protect those aspiring to immigrate to our nation. To be specific, I write of the treatment of Central Americans during these past few years, victims of violence in their own countries of birth only to find negligence and abuse here at our borders. Also, let us not forget this administration's bigotry against those of the Muslim faith who have dreamed of fleeing their oppression. Yet we have "heard" nothing but silence from Republicans from both the House and the Senate. Let us not be too much in a hurry to throw roses at the feet of apparent hypocrites.
78
@Kathy Lollock
You confuse abuse by government policy and "abuse" at the hands of criminals. The latter is not one of the five internationally accepted grounds for asylum.
2
What a miracle to hear that Congress is working together to thwart Trump!
Maybe there is some hope for cooperation in the Senate after all of the fighting over impeachment.
57
@Bronx Jon Trump was the first and most vociferous in calling out China on the Uighur disaster. He backed up words with brutal trade policies, driving China to the brink of an economic calamity. For 8 years before Trump, the US had conceded the field to China, and capitulated to a relentless Chinese march to economic and military superiority. There is NO AREA in which Trump has demonstrated clear leadership and world-changing fortitude in the face of weak-willed Congress and allies, taking the fight to China - not leading from behind, but setting an example for the world. Trump as a negotiator would benefit from keeping ALL the tools in his tool chest to use in squeezing as much out of China as he can. For Congress to weigh in now is great, and all, but Trump has been clear that a reckoning was coming - on his schedule and his terms. He will find a way to use even this to his advantage. China will be out in force to see Trump defeated in 2020 or impeached. Forget Russia, with its tiny economy and irrelevant conventional military. China is the great global threat, and Biden and the Dems are chasing the wrong shadow. China is DESPERATE to see Trump replaced... the Democrat impeachment circus is extremely popular in Beijing. Russia wants only chaos. Given a choice, I am certain Vlad would prefer to face a progressive across the negotiating table than the Orange golem.
2
Seriously? Kids in cages on the southern border and this is what Congress can come together and do? It makes one sick.
25
Never going to happen. Well, perhaps if you strapped him to a plank and dangled burning dollar bills directly out of his checking account he’d consider it.
5
The GOP cares more about the rights of embryos than it ever will about the rights of living, breathing humans.
22
A human right to Trump is the "right" of all humans to give him their money, loyalty, and one way respect.
13
“Human rights causes draw rare bipartisan support in Congress, and many Republican lawmakers have broken from Mr. Trump on the matter”.
Not individually, nor in public, they haven’t. Seeking safety in numbers from the prying eyes of God does not require courage.
6
It would be a monumental shift in policy if anyone succeeded in pushing Trump to take any moral standing against any of the tyrants he so admires. The only way he would do that is if there is a payoff for him personally. I don't really see any of his devoted followers pushing for anything that is not hard core Trump the strong man. Demagogues do not follow moral principles.
6
Stop trading with China and you will no longer be funding concentration camps, China’s global spy network and the greatest military expansion in world history.
10
@ABC
"Greatest military expansion in world history"? Please let's base the discussion in reality. China has one foreign military base and is not adding any more soon. America with the largest military budget in the world by magnitudes (which is always increased) has over 800 and is constantly looking to expand this number most recently in Africa. More fact free delusion.
6
After having killed half a million Muslims and torturing Iraqi captives and destabilizing the Middle East in our war on terror, we're now shedding crocodile tears over the mistreatment of Muslims in China in its war on terror. How does it go? Do as I say not as I do. And you wonder why almost none of the Muslim countries are joining us in condemning Chinese policy towards the Uighurs.
20
@Michael
The only place where Russian and Chinese trolls have freedom of speech is US media. Go figure...
9
@Michael
Really not comparable, but I suspect you know that. The Chinese are intentionally committing genocide. Intention matters.
3
The thing about Trump is the pleasure he takes in the pain of others. In German, this perversion is known as "schadenfreude." Many people, shown photos of the Uighurs in their "re-education" camps, would feel compassion and outrage. Trump is the type of sociopath who actually enjoys the suffering and tragedy of China's victims, and those of Saudi Arabia (Yemen), and of Brazil, the Philippines, Indonesia (visited primarily on their own people).
12
@Sidewalk Sam
And you know this how exactly?
Has he ever shown any pleasure at the suffering of the Uighur or of any other countries you mentioned? Like most other presidents his hands are tied while dealing with China. If he takes an idealistic view and stops trade then we have massive issues with middle class here as they run out of affordable goods at their local Walmart’s etc.
1
Human rights?! Trump abhors human rights.
15
Why won't Trump confront China? Because he's weak, and the Chinese know it.
21
@Richard Gordon:
It's quite likely that the Buffoon-in-chief has deep financial ties with China, ergo it's imperative for him to not rile the Sino leadership.
Odd, isn't it, that he's so reticent about showing his tax returns, as the presidents before him have willingly done.
Nothing to hide? One would need to deliberately ignorant to believe that
4
@Richard Gordon
MAGA hats and Ivanka's handbags, shoes, and clothing are made in China... all you need to know as to why Trump killed Obama's TPP first thing in 2017.
7
The irony of attempting to push Trump and the Republicans into action in behalf of human rights in other countries. This, as our own country is creating a human rights nightmare in, from all reports, poorly run concentration camps of undocumented people— many fleeing violence in their own countries.
Our country has no moral high ground here. Sadly, this will be true for many years to come.
20
Good, but I guess china is far enough away and Trump is in a trade war anyhow. It would be nice to see the same concern for the kids in cages on our border.
18
The GOP is willing to call out human rights abuses when it does not interfere with the desired policy outcomes of their base. If a human rights abuse is OK with their base, it's OK with their elected representatives. If the GOP base is indifferent to rights abuse of a particular group, GOP reps are free to act.
10
How about a holistic and concerted effort to engage China on multiple fronts: trade, imperialism, intellectual property theft and human rights. But that would mean a true bipartisan campaign. Good luck.
8
My goodness.
What China has done to the Uighur people is horrendous.
But hundreds of immigrants in US detention centers have died in detention, mostly for lack of medical care, including several small children, and NONE of them violated the de facto immigration law of the US, in force for centuries. Instead they were imprisoned for violating wrong-headed policies of unelected administrations following the under investigated crimes of 9/11.
Can we please have a little rule of law and common sense at the border and in our enforcement agencies.
We are still, a nation of immigrants, even if Trumpler removed the phrase from the mission statement of USCIS.
17
@jan: No. Not "hundreds". Some half-dozen children plus a couple of adults have died in detention.
As you correctly imply, most of the people in detention centers are seeking asylum here, which is their legal right.
And to address the "Faux" media's influence, as the following comment does, no such persons as "illegals" exist.
1
How about Russia? They are not a bastion of human rights. How about North Korea? Trump is not tough, not even a little bit. He is the marshmallows marshmallow. But like most bully's, he will try to act like what he thinks a diplomat would do. So he treats our foes with respect and even admiration while treating our allies with disdain. There is no way he will talk to Putin or XI about human rights. He might then be compared to Obama.
9
So much whataboutism to take attention off of Uighars and excuse their suffering.
3
I don't think that's what anyone is doing in making comments criticizing United States policy / position on this. No one is trying to take the focus off human rights abuses in China. I think the expectation is the United States needs to (also) crack down on / eliminate our own human rights abuses, those occurring in our country, particularly along our southern border, as well as abroad. (Example: The Eddie Gallagher / disgraced former Navy SEAL who engaged in war crimes, then was pardoned by Trump... and nauseatingly...held up by Trump as a military hero! Disgusting, unforgivable acts of human rights abuses... brushed aside by Trump.). We need to impose higher standards of how we treat other people on ourselves. Otherwise we have no moral authority to ask for anyone else to change their behaviors.
3
@Laume
It's almost as if there is a contingent here who want to deflect attention from Chinese misdeeds.
3
@AK True enough. That's how the cadre in China are taught to bend the minds of the populace to the decrees of the Central Committee...
So a nation that bombs other nations at will... is concerned about human rights?
So a nation that incarcerates more of its own population than any other... is concerned about human rights?
Where was congress when Mr. Obama launched wars in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Niger?
Or when Mr. Obama joked about predator drone killings?
Imagine the congressional outcry had Trump said what Obama said:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/05/obama-finds-predator-drones-hilarious/340949/
Does this ring hollow!
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
9
@Rev. E. M. Camarena, PhD It was thinking like this that prevented people from taking action against Hitler until he had invaded Poland. The massacre at Wounded Knee was only how recent in US history when the term "genocide" was introduced? Can we really have a world of inaction until "the beam from our own eyes" is removed?
"They include Mr. Xi, Mr. Putin, Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, and President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil."
Just wondering how you ranked these...not alphabetical by leader or country, not by the size of the country...is it the severity of the human rights abuse? That's impossible. Is it their importance to the 'U.S. economy' or just the top 1% of it?
5
@me What's your point except to move the discussion away from atrocities against humans to the infamous yet allusive 1%? The 1% may be greedy but they don't put people's lives in danger because of their religion. Diluting this critical situation dilutes the success in curing it.
2
This article on human rights just displaced the lead article on the sickening affair of SEAL Chief Gallagher. If Trump could pardon a war criminal of horrific acts, how could anyone expect that he would criticize another country for its human rights abuses?
70
I don't believe that the GOP will support human rights. They may make a noise but their souls have been sold to white supremacy.
Vote Blue no matter who.
38
Yeah, this will happen. Trump’s a real humanitarian.
12
@Dan B:
One presumes that you are being acidly sarcastic.
4
Empty geopolitical posturing and delusional logic. What does the US really care about? Human rights or jockeying for geopolitical advantage? Congress wants to address human rights issues? Look in your own backyard with regard to radical Islam policies. Wars of choice are the greatest impingement on human rights. Killing and maiming on an industrial scale, dispossessing and rendering millions of people refugees is worse than detention and reeducation and wars of choice/military interventions are America's answer to radical Islam. Refute that.
Sure do some chest beating on Xinjiang what about Yemen?
Right now the US is prosecuting a war with the Saudis - in it up to their necks - against the people of Yemen that the UN has described as the largest humanitarian disaster on the planet. 3 million refugees, 15million at risk of starvation and 1.5 million from "weaponized" cholera - war crimes. The US could stop it tomorrow.
Sure we are so worried about human rights happily acting as the world's biggest arms merchant by orders of magnitude sewing the planet with products who only purpose if used as intended is to kill and destroy. ("But look at evil China exporting facial recognition technology that 'might' be abused.")
To paraphrase Seinfeld as he looked down at George his latest con come to disaster pants around his ankles fallen on the floor, "And you want to be my human rights champion?" Pull my other leg America.
18
@Belasco
Question: when you write "radical Islam policies" of this county = do you refer to polices toward radical Islam, or is it radical policies toward those of Islamic faith? Or both? Sometimes it is difficult to know who is of your faith or foe. Yes, that is how many if not most view it. Well, "God will know His own," ( paraphrased) seems to be the policy of a number of religions. Someday, someone will ask a question much like the line at the end of the movie The Longest Day: "I wonder who won." not aware, not knowing that we all lost. It could have been wonderful. Too bad we blew it.
I’m sorry, but what business is that of the United States to ‘punish’ those who don’t share ‘American values’?
Speaking of which: 2019 saw the highest number of mass shootings in the US on record.
Maybe the Congress’ should have a domestic focus first.
26
@waldo The U.S. should not meddle in other countries' affairs. It's none of our business. Our involvement in numerous countries in the past has been a disaster. I'm sure there are many human rights abuses/problems in many parts of the world. We should just stay out of them.
1
It’s pretty simple, really. Trump will criticize any country if doing so makes him look good or if there is a buck to be made. But human rights are way down his list of priorities, because there is little in it for him. Completely transactional. And devoid of morality.
29
America's political system is broken. We have an outlaw POTUS but in that regard republicans have his back. Beyond insanity it is absolutely dangerous and criminal.
Let's fix the problem in our own backyard first.
10
Trump just pardoned a war criminal who wrongly and egregiously violated the norms and trust of military-civilian relationship. He was recently impeached for intentionally blackmailing a leader of a foreign country whilst holding up tax payer dollars for his own political benefit. If people around the world don't realize that this president will never do the right thing and uphold the values of the US abroad, then they are suffering from the same cognitive dissonance as his supporters.
37
When Congress expresses overwhelming bipartisan support for the human rights of people in the US, call me.
30
Maybe we can keep that same energy going and pass veto-proof legislation in 2020 that will punish the Trump administration over its treatment of immigrants lawfully seeking asylum.
27
If I might add, Bloomberg is as bad as Trump when it comes to ignoring the reality of the Beijing dictatorship. Here he is last month in a PBS interview saying warm cuddly things about Xi. It's surreal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRvAptfWU90
He not only refuses to admit Xi's a dictator, he pooh poohs China's massive coal-fired power plant construction, which is ongoing as we speak.
Bloomberg holds himself out as a green, yet he won't call out China. There's no way he should be President.
9
Imagine how despicable the policy must be that even Trump's caddies in the Senate can't abide it. But the President would rather to do nothing about it. If it's anti-Muslim, he's all for it.
6
Are there any Trump Hotel & Casino or Golf Club in Hong Kong? No? No business quid pro quo opportunity for his family business?
No wonder........
6
Trump got elected by promising a Muslim ban. Trump wants re-elected. Trump won't help the Muslims.
7
@Tony Bickert It's not even because they're Muslim though. He won't ever help any persecuted ethnic minority, anywhere, (unless they're being persecuted for being Christians, which he only recognizes as something his based cares about). The reason he loves all these authoritarian dictators so much, is because he HATES the fact that the US constitution constrains him from acting the same way they do. He would be thrilled if he could just imprison anyone who said something mean about him, and disband elections so he could declare Ivanka his heir. He sees these dictators being able to do whatever they want, and he wishes that he could too, which is why he slobbers all over them and praises them to the heavens.
6
@Honora...Murkowski said she was "disturbed by McConnell's stance". How is that a "knife in the back"? Should she display abject fealty to Trump? And they say Dems want purity tests.
4
As long as this Congress continues to allow the human rights abuses of children at our southern border, they don't have a leg to stand on.
As long as this Congress continues to allow the number of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women to go unanswered, unfunded and uninvestigated, they don't have a leg to stand on.
As long as this Congress continues to allow this president the unchecked authority to commit whatever crimes he pleases with impunity, they don't have a leg to stand on.
As long as this Congress continues to ignore the world's worst gun violence problem that they created, they do. not. have. a. leg. to. stand. on.
Since this administration is all about "America First," then I would suggest that we start with our own problematic Human Rights Abuses.
#icantbreathe #trayvonmartin #MMIW #childrenincages #charlottesville #
32
The article states: Still, when Mr. Trump signed the bill [supporting the Hong Kong protests] the night before Thanksgiving, he issued a statement saying he would “exercise executive discretion” in enforcing its provisions.
What is this “executive discretion”? Where did this come from? Who came up with this? Does this mean that the president does not have to enforce laws passed by congress, essentially creating a dictatorship?
13
I think the answer to your last question is found in Article II Section 3 of the Constitution. I believe that his numerous explicit violations, esp. EO 13771, are the most egregious of his many impeachable offenses
2
Bravo! Finally an issue we can all agree on - human rights for people of all nations. Let us hope that Congress can find other issues upon which to unite and rise above petty partisanship issues. At heart we are all kind good people caught up in self interest and fear. Yes, even you President Trump, are a good kind person. Show us your heart more often.
@Jenny Orme Did you read the article? It doesn't matter what the persecuted minority group is, he's ALWAYS against doing something to help them, unless he is absolutely forced to do so by Congress. He loves authoritarian dictators who brutalize their people because he is deeply jealous that he can't behave the way they behave, and just imprison anyone who says something mean about him.
12
So Congress is going to complicate Trump’s trade negotiations with Beijing with their pointless “human rights” posturing- and then blame him when the trade war drags on and the farmers start complaining and prices at the Walmart keep climbing.
Being a member of Congress is the best job in the world. You get to bloviate all day long and take responsibility for nothing.
3
Congress is doing its job, finally.
I know that makes things "complicated" for lovers of an imperial presidency.
Given the man spends five hours a day tweeting, I sure he can make time to manage the responsibility of being the leader of the free world.
3
if there has been one constant in the life of trump its that he would sell his daughter is the price was right. And with trump that price might be lower than you would think.
So on occasion his lack of humanity becomes even too much for the gop to bear. Not that they have great moral character, but atrocities are usually more well hidden.
A talk show participant a few years back said it quite simply. Just follow the money.....
true then true now
13
@tom
Wow. I see how much hatred you’ve got for the man. The holiday season not going too well for you I see.
2
How about a more active role in the human rights abuses in Yemen?
America in responsible for the abuses that Saudi Arabia has inflicted on the the civilian population.
How the civilian abuses in Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan?
In another world the U.S. would be before the International Court in The Hague.
But in this world, Trump pardons military criminals who have killed civilians.
8
It's hard to doubt the terrible nature of the Beijing dictatorship at this point. Clearly the "trade will make them more like us" mantra of the late 1990s was wrong. All trade did -- if you want to call being cheated, lied to, and ripped off "trade" -- was make a totalitarian dictatorship strong. China's Communists have never stopped fighting the Cold War, and we spent the last 30 years ignoring that while making them a formidable adversary. This will go down in as one of history's greatest blunders.
.
Sanctioning a few bad guys in China over the Xinjiang atrocity is hardly enough at this point. The best move for the West is to isolate Beijing totally until they go the way of the USSR. I hate to say that, because the Chinese people don't deserve that, but allowing that malign government to grow stronger through trade is insane.
.
Trump should stop with the "Xi Jinping is my friend" nonsense and get on with the necessary unpleasant task at hand. Xi Jinping is the friend of no American, indeed, no free person anywhere on the planet. Unlike Putin, he's quiet, so he doesn't get the negative attention internationally he deserves.
.
It's time to get real with that dictatorship. Beijing is trying to export their oppressive surveillance state as an "alternative form of government". Every year the world makes them richer through trade makes it inevitable that the reckoning will be harder when the day comes, and it's surely coming if we sit by wringing our hands and do nothing.
10
We represent one twentieth of the people on Earth while China has a population of 1.43 billion out of about 7 billion. The emerging middle class in China is about the size of our whole population. We are not going to compel China to change. The whole world might have leverage but who is going to unify the whole world as things stand?
2
@Casual Observer
So you vote for wringing our hands and doing nothing. Got it. Very Neville Chamberlain-like.
.
"Middle class in our time."
2
Human rights issues to be addressed by our Congress?
Trump's dehumanization of brown people at the US/Mexico Border.
Trump's complete opposition to ameliorating the effects of climate change on people.
Trump's/Evangelical anti-LGBT policies.
23
Lawmakers also need to keep some powder dry to punish the Chinese when they take action against the protesters in Hong Kong.
4
Trump more than likely admires China’s persecution of Muslims.
27
I'll believe it when I see it. Republicans are all bluff and bluster. In the end they won't support it because trump will threaten to throw them under the bus with their voters.
17
@The last laugh
The best strategy for Republicans who want to be re-elected next fall, especially in swing states, would be for them to throw Trump under the bus at the first possible moment.
9
@The last laugh
Did you even read the article? The HK bills passed unanimously in both houses. Marco Rubio is perhaps the most outspoken critic of China's Communists, unless Ted Cruz is ahead of him.
.
Enough with the partisan hate already. We're all Americans. Your kind of partisan hate helps China's dictators -- that's all it does.
1
What a completely pathetic show of unity. We allow guns to be sold to criminals with background loopholes. We have a President that trashes immigrants, Muslims, Mexicans, etc. We have a President that has committed near treason by enlisting a foreign power to target his political enemies. We have a President whose family enriches themselves brazenly (Trump is now escounsed in Mar a Lago), We have leadership that lies, then lies, then lies again and the only thing these clowns in Congress can agree to is to target Chinese human rights abuses?
52
@Chris
Thank you. Exactly. Given the GOP's well documented attitude toward Muslims, this is a nothing but posturing.
9
Doesn't anyone else find it a bit ironic that Republicans want Trump to take a stand on human rights abuses by another country...when our country is happily separating children, toddlers, and babies from parents / family members? And we have those same children locked up in cages where our government refuses vaccinations for them? And some of these children are dying in custody...others never being reunited with their families because their family members are deported? And we think we have the more high ground to criticize China and tell them what to do? It might be a good idea if we get our own moral house in order first before we go preaching at other countries about their human rights abuses.
102
There is too little concrete information about what is going on in Xinjiang, too many conflicting media reports, and too many reasons to be cautious with information coming from various interest groups and questionable sources. There is a possibility that all of the accusations about a million Uighurs held in detention camps could be true, but there is also a possibility that congress is acting on propaganda being pushed by nefarious actors who may be trying to draw the US into a deeper conflict with China. The NY Times has the resources to follow this up, it would be a shame if the government once against acted on incomplete or faulty intelligence in instigating yet another foreign intervention (especially after all the previous ones went so badly).
2
@John
I believe the numerous sources that have reported on this issue. This is not propaganda “pushed by nefariousness actors” , nor is it fake news. The time I spent with the Uighers in 2006 were amongst the most pleasant I have ever experienced in China. They are being persecuted by nefarious actors.
7
The NYT has verified and reported the stories. The United States intelligence agencies have verified them. If you don't believe them, perhaps you should hop tha next flight to China and see for yourself.
4
Are the Uighur Muslims offering to put up a Trump hotel? No? Then Trump does care about them, you or I.
11
Interesting how gung ho Congress is to condemn the Chinese (and they do deserve it) and yet continues to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses here in the US. The hypocrisy is loud and clear.
39
I'm sorry. The man is working 24/7 to destroy the lives of Americans. He should care about the Chinese. Isn't that special.
21
Trump and human rights are contradictions in terms. The man has no empathy, no conscience, no humanity and no love lost for Muslims. He would sactrifice a million Uighurs for one of Ivanka's Chinese trademarks.
35
And once again, Saudi Arabia gets a pass.
29
@You Know It when we find oil in china, expect them to get a pass too.
1
Trump loves the sadism. It is his thing--and what you see from his most fervent supporters.
Abuses of human rights seem, based on his actions, to be Trump's joy and delight. He recently chose to destroy millions of birds--just because he can (by overturning rules that protect them.)
Dictators abusing the human rights of those of the "wrong" ethnic background or religion is what Trump believes in. Republicans will not do anything to oppose Trump, fearing the horrible attack by tweet that will surely come after any factual comment by any Republican about any human rights issue.
Trump also loves his emoluments. China is a wonderful source of emoluments. Any criticism of Putin or Chinese or Saudi abuse of minorities or human rights will be met by a Trumpian tweet and policy to encourage additional abuse. And every single Republican Senator and Representative will sing Trump's praises, or cower (except one or two who will express "concerns" before caving. Trump's "babies in cages" was his statement that he belongs among them.
Get real. No Republican will support any human rights actions in countries run by dictators who can bribe Trump.
26
I thought it was an impeachable offense to meddle in the policies of another country. And a criminal offense. Isn’t that what the Russians are accused of? Using words.
5
Sanctions are not “meddling”- they are a form of disengagement.
2
You mean, words like, “This is what the United States stands for?” And, “We can’t stomp in and stop you, but we can darn skippy refuse to do every kind of business with you until you stop throwing your own citizens into camps?”
Or wait, I know...words like, “I’m scared of Joe Biden, so how’s about I hold up the help we promised until you smear him some?”
4
Good luck with that. China does what China wants to do. They do not take recommendations from anyone.
5
The best thing the US could do to defend human rights in the world is to fix its own democracy. After that it needs to put human rights way ahead of all its own mercantile interests. As it stands, the dictators of the world will just shrug American lecturing as hypocrisy and they'll be right.
22
I really appreciate their love of American democracy, flawed as it may be, but I wish they wouldn't be so blatant about it by displaying the U.S. flag. The Chinese government is already talking about a "black hand" involved in the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Aside from that, I wish the Hong Kong protesters well. I hope something good comes from all of this.
5
What the Chinese government is doing is no more immoral as what was done to the Japanese by this country when they were defeated in WWII. Their religion was predicated on Emperor Hirohito being God, not figuratively but a higher being whose authority included instructing his people to massacre others or to take their own lives.
By order of Gen.Douglas MacArthur, Shinto was redefined so it could no longer command the obedience of an Emperor. It is such as prewar Shintoism, that is similar to this radical form of Uighur Islam that China is combating .
It is not surprising that the single consensus of the two political parties is in defending the perpetuation of a religious group, as it is consistent with this country's reverence to organized religion, even though it is the source of the current intractable political divisiveness,
Rather than uniting against a movement to eliminate a radical religion, using little more violence than the relocation camps of Japanese Americans in WWII, we should see this as a model of for a secular society, the only path out of our toxic political divide.
5
GOP Congress members make a show of supporting human rights right now because it looks nice on their resume not out of any sense of humanitarian impulse or conscience. Having supported Trump so outrageously they want the appearance of independence without actually doing any thing that might rile up their base or Trump. Their hold on power at home is what matters and this appearance of action does not threaten that so what the hey does it matter.
Trump is desperate for a trade agreement even a watered down one and will not cross Chinese leaders if it threatens that. But Uighurs in China do not vote in US elections so why should he care. Human Rights even at home do not matter to Trump. People to Trump are merely pawns and to Trump their sufferings mean nothing. Like all would be dictators people to be of value must be stepping stones to greater power and in this to Trump Uighurs are a null entity.
12
Perhaps we need to hold our President accountable for the violation of human rights by holding women, men, and children who are seeking asylum and refuge in America in cages; ie concentration for-profit incarceration centers.
49
If America was great human rights, family planning, animal welfare and the environment would come first on all government interactions with other countries. And corporations that do business outside the US would meet the same standards.
49
Trump is a fascist. He could not care less about human rights.
128
@DSD
civilized nations consider health care a human right. By that standard alone ours is a failed nation. Republicans have been opposing and fighting universal health care relentlessly for almost a whole century. Our infant MORTALITY rate is the highest of all the advanced nations. When will our parties work together and take care of that? No one Republican voted for health care but all voted to repeal over and over again.
China lowered their poverty substantially, they advance and we have increased the rate of poverty, so, who are we to tell them how to run their country?
a nation of 1.4 billion people?
11
@ARL:
The GOP worships the accumulation of wealth above all else; ergo funding anything not generating even more wealth is anathema to them.
As for healthcare for their fellow citizens? Well, obviously that's a non-starter, as it would actually involve costs.
Pure avarice.
2
Hopefully China will help protect Americans’ human rights. Our government is too busy making symbolic displays like this to bother with addressing our own racist system of mass incarceration (much larger in scale and impact than China’s).
14
@Vince there is absolutely no comparison to the USA and China on this topic ...
2
How ironic that this congress can so easily garner bipartisan support when it is for blatant intervention into the sovereign affairs of other nations, especially now that of China, even as its own record of toward muslim nations is one of destabilization, massive bombing, trashing infrastructure and displacement of tens of millions. Kudos for President Trump for opposing this historic level of hypocrisy.
7
Hypocrisy? Human beings are being systematically detained, tortured and abused. Let’s focus on the big picture.
11
@George B
We need to focus on our own big picture before we tell others how to do it. We have lots of poverty and hungry and homeless families, millions without affordable health care and more. Our plate is full.
5
US lawmakers do not clearly see the complex nature of situations in other countries. Leave them be to settle their own situations. Your own country is beset with so much economic and racial injustice.
14
The sad truth is that the US has lost its moral authority on the world stage. Congress can pass as many legislations as they like but with a country like China, they’ll just degenerate into tit-for-tat escalations.
The best message we can send is leading by example.
56
Funny how the Republicans are so concerned about the human rights in China, when they don't want medical coverage for all American citizens, or are supportive of eliminating homelessness in the U.S. Anything that doesn't involve taxing the rich is negotiable...
86
@William Tate
Well said. I never heard about homelessness and any deportations when Obama was President. He knew how to solve those problems.
5
Bearing in mind what is going on in Syria at the moment ,
with another mass exodus of refugees and Trump talking about the gallant Turks ?? versus Iran Syria and Russia , it might be more suitable for bipartisan interests to direct Trump's attention in that direction rather then China ...or better still ,for Trump to get his finger out and effectively deal with such issues as Syria , the Kurds . the Palestinian issue ,Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea along with the threat of Ukrainian invasion and then throw in the barbaric Chinese factor re the Muslim s there and Hong Kong
Of course , that would require courage , integrity , fortitude intelligence and deep integrity ..
All of which Trump does not possess .( along with the Admin executive , the GOP and there not so notable leaders .
15
@patchelli45
Syria - human right abuses for sure, but no side is innocent - just a matter of degree.
Kurds -- sacrifice of 'self-determination' for the benefit of 'territorial integrity' within borders drawn up by the British, French, and Turkish colonial powers.
Palestinian issue -- complex mix of religion with terrorism with superpower games with victimhood with regional power games, etc.
Annexation of Crimea -- largely desired by the majority local Russian population -- self-determination versus territorial integrity again.
The best thing the US could do is fix itself. Few take 'Make America Great Again' as a serious defender of human rights.
3
Syria: people, starting with students wanting to be able to peacefully criticize their authoritarian govt and wanting more open democracy freedoms of speech- arrested, murdered, disappeared by Assad, who is now backed by Russia.
Kurds: a nation without a state.
Palestine: sacrificed and families ripped out of their ancestral lands in poorly conceived scheme to establish Jewish homeland.
Annexation of Crimea: “largely Russian speaking” (if it was) because ethnic Crimean Tartars ethnically cleansed away by Russia in WW2 era. Ukraine itself was forcibly annexed by Stalin. Putin wants the empire back.
2
Trump has shown to be a wanna be brutal dictator like the butchers he admires ie Kim, Duerta, Saudi Prince etc. and has set back America dramatically and damaged it severely.
However, human rights abuses can be classified into three classes.
1-Rape, genocide, starvation, crimes against humanity etc. The civilized world should condemn them to the point of collective military intervention.
2-Cases like the story says, internment camps, an affront to civilized countries and should be condemned but not at the point of military intervention. Boycotts, sanctions etc. should be called for.
3-Human rights abuses in the eyes of the beholder. Examples are making arab women wear Burkas. In the west frowned upon as horrible, In arab countries considered tradition.
7
@Paul
What is a burka compared to forced pregnancies based on religion? Based on the constitution the USA is a secular nation. We had our age of enlightenment, Muslims will have to experience their own age of reason in their time.
1
ARL:
If we are a secular country, why do we have "IN GOD WE TRUST" on our currency?
@James It's all relative. Although you are correct and it is a technical violation of the constitution with a strict view of it, so far it has not led to horrendous religious horror stories like in the Middle East.
In fact we can thank the founding fathers for starting it and Lincoln for saving it, ie separation of religion and state that we are not going thru those horror stories.
1
President Trump values the human and civil rights of Americans over non-Americans. We should not allow him to get away with that.
4
@Dr. John Given his exalting of Andrew Jackson by having his portrait on the wall, it seems he doesn't care too much about the human rights of Indigenous Americans. Looking at the Americas as a whole he has no care for the human rights of Indigenous Americans when he shatters their families and locks up their kids. If it suited his convenience he would not care much for your's either.
1
@Bob Guthrie
Official policy is not concerned with human rights, it never was, Trump or no Trump, it is all about more profits.
What a joke. Trump has been under sustained attack by the same Democrats and Republicans for years over his trade war with China- which is the source of the only leverage America still has over the People’s Republic. What exactly do the unserious people of Congress propose? A blockade? Military action? A vague resolution with lots of grandiose posturing no doubt. Words words words.
5
This anticipated action would resonate with more honesty if there would be a bipartisan action to face our own government's sins of separating children from their parents and then putting them in cages.
86
This is great for Trump for after he gets re-elected he then can still be on good terms with Beijing.
1
Isn’t it clear by now that Trump’s foreign policy, such as it is, is determined by his personal financial and political interests? With him, all you have to do is follow the money—his own or the source of his loans—to determine his policy. Call it the “Trump First” Doctrine.
22
Perhaps Congress should also pass economic sanctions against Trump while they're at it. He cares nothing about human rights because he cares nothing about human beings.
78
@stu freeman Good post, and sadly so true.
3
@stu freeman So tell me who in Congress is dedicated to human rights over politics. No one.
Make sure it is veto-proof, because dt values wealth, esp. his own, above human rights of any kind.
9
If Trump won’t respect human rights at home, there’s no way he will fight for them abroad.
19
"America First!" - Every policy is geared to that notion.
4
@Mike
Actually it’s more like “trump’s Personal Fortune First!”... there really is no other policy.
3
Human rights? Why don’t we appoint chief Gallagher to head the commission. Sometimes our hypocrisy is outrageous and obscene.
9
Human rights?
45* and his cabal should be tried for crimes against humanity .
Of which they have none. None.
9
Trump scapegoats Muslims, laughs at human rights, and will be every bit the ruthless dictator he is allowed to be. And no, Mr. Rubio, that’s not a perception, it’s a fact.
74
@NM Well said!!
1
Donald appears to thrive on civil rights abuses. Cruelty is his oxygen.
143
YES! Let us not emulate those who in WW II turned a blind eye to the ethnic murdering of Gypsies and Jews and Russians and Poles.
Let us hit the top leaders in China where it hurts—their families wealth. And let us do it as a surgeon and not as a blind swordsman.
And don’t forget Tibet.
10
Trump espousing Human Rights, are you kidding me?
30
Good luck! That's like trying to get him not to cheat at golf.
19
Donald is interested only in the rights of one human with the initials DJT.
27
I don’t think The average American cares about the issues overseas unless it directly affect them. Most Americans have a very limited understanding of anything beyond their state border outside of sports.
112
@Practical Thoughts
As a voter, I would appreciate it if our two parties would pass a veto-proof resolution to provide universal health care for all.
It is time they do their homework first. We have big problems, take care of them first.
16
Trump has no concept of human rights. So I don't see much movement on his part.
125
The great pain here is giving in to the belief that both sides of the aisle actually can work together. I’m glad they are in this instance, but, well ...
Vote Nov. 3, 2020.
12
Well it’s about time. Where has the US been lately on human rights around the world? China is only one problem country and not just with the Uighurs. The way China is oppressing Hong Kong. Then there’s India and their treatment of Kashmir. We also have Brazil and the way they’re treating indigenous Amazon people. Also the way Russia is treating its dissenters. And the list goes on. In the absence of any US condemnation or action regarding human rights around the world, many governments are oppressing people with impunity.
22
India treats Kashmiris better than Trump administration treats undocumented kids crossing the border.
People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones!
7
What about Pakistan’s treatment of Hindu and Sikh minorities?
When will Congress recognize the genocide of Hindus by majority Kashmir Muslims in 1990?
4
" In a rare show of bipartisan unity, Republicans and Democrats are planning to try to force President Trump to take a more active stand on human rights in China". Music to my ears. Basic human rights should not be a partisan issue. Now let's do something about those little kids that Trump has caged in Texas.
198
The US moved backward on human rights at home and abroad. Trump has targeted refugees and immigrants, calling them criminals and security threats; emboldened racist politics by equivocating on white nationalism; and consistently championed anti-Muslim ideas and policies.
Racial disparities permeate every part of the US criminal justice system, including in the enforcement of drug laws. Black people make up 13 percent of the population and 13 percent of all adults who use drugs, but 27 percent of all drug arrests. Black men are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of white men.
Police continue to kill black people in numbers disproportionate to their overall share of the population. Black people are 2.5 times as likely as white to be killed by police. An unarmed black person is five times as likely to be killed by police as an unarmed white person.
The Trump administration has expressed almost unconditional support for the prerogatives of law enforcement officers, scaling back or altogether removing police oversight mechanisms. The US Department of Justice began to discontinue investigations into, and monitoring of, local police departments reported to have patterns and practices of excessive force and constitutional violations.
Thank you Human Rights Watch.
59
How can any American challenge anyone, anywhere in the world about human rights when the white house denies those basic rights to millions at home.
The rights given to big business such as Facebook, or big oil, big energy, or Apple or Google selling our privacy whether we want them to or not.
Vote Mr Trump out of office.
Cleanse both houses of congress on both sides of the aisle of those that has given away Americans rights.
Then, America can challenge the world.
45
@Bill Term limits for a start.
3
Trump will just ignore them as he has done in the past.
7
“There’s been a sense that Congress needs to step up.”
Understatement of the last three years
12
Trump seems to think that being tough with friends is cool but really nasty people must be treated with supplications and deference. He wants to win concessions from China with who he has a trade war. He is afraid that embarrassing them about inhuman official actions might impeded his dealings with them over trade. Trump talks tough but he really does not understand what tough really happens to be. The U.S. protesting inhuman behaviors by governments with who it is having talks over other things is not new. Trump does not study history.
5
The problem with the Geopoltics of dealing with China is that if they don't respect you they won't deal with you, they will play you.
They watch you, they probe you, they use your weaknesses against you; and then Donald Trump was elected President.
Trump won't challenge China's human rights abuses, on trade when they make promises and don't follow through, on military expansion in the south China sea; because China sees Trump as an errant child that they won't hesitate to "spank" and he knows it.
10
He is your President and is speaking and acting on your behalf. As long as he is in power he will continue to downgrade the image and legacy of the United States of America.
16
Don't expect 45* to care about anything or anybody. Except himself. He can't even fake sympathy convincingly.
152
Meddling in the affairs of a foreign country. Isn't that why so many people are offended by Russia…meddling in our affairs?
9
@Raz Offended? Try horrified that we are being attacked by Russia and our president loves Putin, the guy who ordered the attacks. If we don't get rid of Trump, we'll end up like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or other dictatorship in the world today.
As a democracy, a free country who has the power to do good in the world, we should strive to help those who are being abused and murdered by dictator-led tyrannies.
To ignore such atrocities is akin to ignoring the Nazis in Germany before World War 2. The cost of ignoring it; 60,000,000 lives lost because of Hitler and his Nazi Party.
Heed the warnings of history. Ignore them at your peril.
3
“Last month, Congress passed legislation by unanimous consent supporting the Hong Kong protests, forcing Mr. Trump to sign the bill.”
If close attention is paid to Trump’s inevitable ludicrous bragging about his “first term accomplishments” as we near the 2020 general election, his “humane support of the Hong Kong protesters” is bound to crop up.
“Mr. Trump, who had previously said he was ‘standing with’ Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, risked being overruled by Congress and criticized as weak on China if he vetoed the measure.”
If the president survives his upcoming impeachment trial, his 2020 stump speech portrayal of the decisions he’s made as POTUS will likely be a study in political fantasy. Our country has never endured the leadership of someone so willing to engage in open and obvious “Heads I win. Tails you lose.” reasoning.
Lesser con men might bide their time and try to twist past events to their advantage at a later date. Without hesitation, Trump reverses course and declares “yet another victory” at the drop of a hat, with the television cameras running and the whole world watching. Absolute shamlessness!
For, after all, DID the Kurds come to our assistance at Normandy?!?
8
As bad as our polarized environment is, at least all Americans can unite to denounce China's audacious and craven human rights abuses. That makes me proud to be an American.
3
"Congress aims to twist Trump's arms by passing veto proof legislation in 2020."
The fine print: NYT has conceded that Trump is getting reelected.
@Bhaskar How do you figure that?
2
trump has shown total apathy about Xi’s hailing of journalists, executions of thought criminals, and internment of Muslims in concentration camps. If he is unable or unwilling to act the Congress must step up. People losing their natural rights anywhere is a grave threat to natural rights everywhere.
9
@CP
The congress has more important things to do at home, the Chinese people can take care of their own problems without our help. They have reduced their nation's poverty substantially and our nation's rate of poverty has increased and millions of working people have no health insurance, plus real hunger and failing schools and infrastructure and lack of affordable housing and more. Our government has a full plate to start with. There is much to do at home, China is not our problem.
Silly me, I thought the article was about trying to get Trump to support human rights in THIS country.
8
Trump care about human rights, I don’t think so. He only cares about himself.
11
China's treatment of Muslims?
What about Trump's treatment of Muslims? He had to rephrase it a couple of times before he got them banned from asking for asylum in the U.S.
11
The US pressing for Human Rights? In China??
After Impeach! Not Impeach! Maybe later?
Reminds me of my brother's old dog: The children tried to train him; Come! Go! Come! Go! The old dog of course got frustrated by these two opposing orders, and then he just sat down and scratched his sides and went to sleep.
Can't do the one, can't do the other - do something else.
@Bjarte Rundereim This is not an easy or funny situation to deal with over here. We have about 320,000,000 people in our country, one-third of which support Trump. We have a propaganda outlet, Fox News, that peddles complete lies to the people who support Trump.
We have a very serious and potentially very dangerous situation on our hands. I don't find your comment funny or enlightening in any way especially if we can't convince our fellow countrymen of the reasons why Trump is terribly dangerous for us and for the world.
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@Michelle
But veto-proof legislation about a Chines issue does not improve anything here at all. The legislature needs to do their homework here first, they can't do their work here how can they tell the Chinese people how to govern a nation of 1.4 billion people? What hubris from them of all people.
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Ever the shrewd and wily manipulator of his base’s confusion and delusion, DJT deftly makes his knee jerk, unconsidered moves with the delicate touch of a Prussian jazz quartet.
— Reward the powerful
— Punish the helpless
— Revere the tyrant
— Harangue the just
— Fawn over foes
— Insult our allies
— Promise the impossible
— Blame someone/anyone for failure to achieve it
And never forget that ANY ignorant, ill-considered action taken can be misdirected into invisibility by throwing someone under the bus. All appointed personel are expendable.
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The USA should also take note of human rights violations of Indian Muslims who are most likely to be declared stateless by the new law of Citizenship Amendment Act. The persecuted community around the world looks at America with high hopes for justice as America is a global leader.
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@Mohammad Azeemullah Please read up on the Bill. It is not directed at Indian citizens or legal residents who are Muslims. If the resident is illegal without any evidence of persecution in their home country they'll be deported, and have to apply legally. What does Libya do with illegal entrants? Can I come to your country and work there without a visa? And how many non Muslims do you have in your country? Thanks for writing.
@Mohammad Azeemullah Please read up on the Bill. It is not directed at Indian citizens or legal residents who are Muslims. If the resident is illegal without any evidence of persecution in their home country they'll be deported, and have to apply legally. What does Libya do with illegal entrants? Can I come to your country and work there without a visa? And how many non Muslims do you have in your country? Thanks for writing.
Has Congress cleared this with LeBron James and the NBA?
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Congress needs to start addressing its own problems instead of interfering with those of China. With an administration hellbent on ruining this country we need more than a show of what????? from what is really a paper tiger.
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@hashtagbob Why can't we do both? Who else is going to stand up to China's inhumanity towards Muslims?
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@Michelle
We can't do anything, how could we do both? Our government is really not even able to provide reliable and affordable health care for all, something even poor countries can do. We have very low standards and expectations of our government. It has the odor of decay.
You think Donald Trump will act on human rights? The man couldn’t care less. Good luck!
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If only there was an opportunity to build a Trump Tower in Xinjiang, then you might get his attention.
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It's hilarious to see Marco Rubio tie himself in knots trying to not criticize Trump's human rights record while still criticizing Trump's human rights record.
Hilarious, of course, only in the "gallows humor" sense.
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Let them discuss that over chocolate cake.
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Why is there no mention of the ongoing "Quiet Genocide" by Iran's government against its citizens who are members of the Baha'i Faith?
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Evangelicals in particular should realize Trump is Abaddon, the Angel of Death, the Destroyer. Life imitates art, as in the movie The Devil's Advocate.
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We have lost our right to lecture anybody on anything. It will take years before we are trusted again. We are the white evangelicals of the world now. And we deserve it.
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@James Stewart
Trump really tore the curtain down for all of us to see the hidden reality which was always there for us to see. We just never believed our very own eyes.
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From The Economist, Nov 28th 2019
Quote:
"Donald Trump has shown a surprising enthusiasm for sanctions"
His administration has gone after corruption and human-rights abusers more energetically than his predecessors
The fact is that Mr. Trump has done more for human rights in Africa than Mr. Obama. To quote The Economist
"It was at that moment that the American government imposed sanctions on Dan Gertler, an Israeli mining billionaire who is a close friend of Mr Kabila. Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, announced that at the “direction of President Trump”, he was placing sanctions on Mr Gertler, together with 12 other “serious human-rights abusers and corrupt actors.” Mr Trump, he said, was “declaring a national emergency with respect to serious human-rights abuse and corruption around the world.”
The imposition of sanctions on Mr Gertler came as a shock to many companies operating in Congo. According to Tom Perriello, formerly Barack Obama’s envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa, it probably helped push Mr Kabila to his eventual decision to stand down in the elections that took place a year later, last December. Yet under the Obama administration, the Treasury had considered sanctions on Mr Gertler and backed off"
The Economist , Nov 28, 2019
@talesofgenji
Really. Sounds like they were at a Trump rally.
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@talesofgenji
Some joke, Trump's name is not on the list for sanctions? Mr. Gertler should have known better, Trump can't be trusted. All the human rights abusers pointing their fingers at the other abusers.
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One begins to wonder just whose side President Trump is on. He wants Love Letters from North Korea. Meanwhile their nuclear missile build-up continues. He turns his back on our allies the Kurds allowing them to be slaughtered. He can't bring himself to speak out on behalf of the million uyghurs in concentration camps held by the Chinese. He incarcerates children in cages separating them from their parents. His administration is destroying healthcare for millions of Americans and taking away food stamps for millions of Americans. Why can't Republican Senators just see the ugliness in this President and allow a reasonable impeachment trial to go forward?
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I don’t wonder: Trump is on Trump’s side. The saddest thing about redhats is that they can’t see they’re getting used.
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@David B. ~
I, personally, got beyond "wondering" 4+ years ago, when he got into the race.
If I lived in NYC, it might have been 3 decades ago.
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@David B.
Your list is really important.
But the last sentence is what gets me. It’s so rational and calm. Makes me want to be less angry and more effective by being rational.
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What’s the most basic of human rights? The right to be alive.
In this regard the US government is an even worse human rights abuser by failing to pass gun control laws and providing basic universal healthcare to it’s citizens, who are dying regularly due to gun violence and unaffordable hospital bills.
The US government has no moral high ground on punishing other countries for their human rights record when it is so flagrantly failing it’s human rights obligations to it’s own citizens.
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@jcy since we’re engaging in whataboutism;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chinese_Famine
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@jcy
The CCP's whataboutism propaganda apparatus is on full display, folks.
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Quite different situations. The US government does not actively place Muslims in concentration camps and force conversions out of them, to name just one component of the problem. China is the worst human rights abuser in the world and this is not in serious question.
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"There’s been a sense that Congress needs to step up.”
Understatement of the year.
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@Mr. And after almost an entire year!
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@Mr. Mark Congress needs to step up and look at the crimes of Washington involvement in aiding Saudi Arabia and its bombing of Yemen, the poorest nation on Earth.
Or the continuous bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
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