Press ReleaseUrgent2026-07-01

Smith introduces resolution condemning the CCP’s campaign to erase ethnic and religious minorities

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This press release from Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) was published on 2026-07-01 and titled "Smith introduces resolution condemning the CCP’s campaign to erase ethnic and religious minorities".

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Smith introduces resolution condemning the CCP’s campaign to erase ethnic and religious minorities

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), introduced legislation condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intensified repression of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as Beijing’s new law—the so-called Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress —scheduled to take effect on July 1 st . Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is the lead Democrat on the resolution. The Smith-McGovern resolution, first reported by The Epoch Times , warns that the bogus statute, adopted by China’s National People’s Congress in March, gives unprecedented legal force and cover to the CCP’s ongoing campaign to eliminate distinct ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities into a single Party-defined national identity. It condemns the CCP’s forced assimilation targeting Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hui Muslims, Manchus, and other communities, whose languages, faiths, families, and histories are under siege. The legislation also asserts that Beijing’s law reaches beyond China’s borders, threatening Uyghurs, Tibetans, Chinese dissidents, journalists, scholars, religious leaders, former political prisoners, and human-rights defenders abroad. In effect, the resolution argues, the CCP is unjustly claiming the authority to punish lawful and peaceful speech, advocacy, scholarship, and religious practice, even on free soil. “Beijing’s message is chilling: abandon your faith, forget your language, obey the Party—or face punishment, even abroad,” said Smith. “This is not unity. It is tyranny—and it turns cultural and religious erasure into official policy. Congress must act decisively to condemn the CCP’s atrocities and protect Americans and diaspora communities from transnational repression,” continued Smith, who has chaired countless congressional hearings on human rights abuses in China. Smith and McGovern’s resolution urges sanctions and visa restrictions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials and entities responsible for forced assimilation, religious repression, forced labor, arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, coercive boarding-school systems, and transnational repression. The legislation also calls for continued U.S. advocacy on behalf of political prisoners, including Ilham Tohti, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Hada, and others detained for peaceful advocacy, religious practice, scholarship, or cultural preservation. Furthermore, the measure calls for stronger protections for China’s diaspora communities in the United States, who remain under the threat of transnational repression from the CCP. It also gives expanded support for endangered languages, religious traditions, independent media, diaspora-led cultural education, documentation of cultural repression, and local-language broadcasting. Finally, the Smith-McGovern resolution affirms that the recognition and succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders are religious matters that must be decided exclusively by Tibetan Buddhists, free from interference by the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party. ###

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Smith introduces resolution condemning the CCP’s campaign to erase ethnic and religious minorities Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the Co-Chair of both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), introduced legislation condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intensified repression of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as Beijing’s new law—the so-called Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress —scheduled to take effect on July 1 st . Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) is the lead Democrat on the resolution. The Smith-McGovern resolution, first reported by The Epoch Times , warns that the bogus statute, adopted by China’s National People’s Congress in March, gives unprecedented legal force and cover to the CCP’s ongoing campaign to eliminate distinct ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities into a single Party-defined national identity. It condemns the CCP’s forced assimilation targeting Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hui Muslims, Manchus, and other communities, whose languages, faiths, families, and histories are under siege. The legislation also asserts that Beijing’s law reaches beyond China’s borders, threatening Uyghurs, Tibetans, Chinese dissidents, journalists, scholars, religious leaders, former political prisoners, and human-rights defenders abroad. In effect, the resolution argues, the CCP is unjustly claiming the authority to punish lawful and peaceful speech, advocacy, scholarship, and religious practice, even on free soil. “Beijing’s message is chilling: abandon your faith, forget your language, obey the Party—or face punishment, even abroad,” said Smith. “This is not unity. It is tyranny—and it turns cultural and religious erasure into official policy. Congress must act decisively to condemn the CCP’s atrocities and protect Americans and diaspora communities from transnational repression,” continued Smith, who has chaired countless congressional hearings on human rights abuses in China. Smith and McGovern’s resolution urges sanctions and visa restrictions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials and entities responsible for forced assimilation, religious repression, forced labor, arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, coercive boarding-school systems, and transnational repression. The legislation also calls for continued U.S. advocacy on behalf of political prisoners, including Ilham Tohti, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Hada, and others detained for peaceful advocacy, religious practice, scholarship, or cultural preservation. Furthermore, the measure calls for stronger protections for China’s diaspora communities in the United States, who remain under the threat of transnational repression from the CCP. It also gives expanded support for endangered languages, religious traditions, independent media, diaspora-led cultural education, documentation of cultural repression, and local-language broadcasting. Finally, the Smith-McGovern resolution affirms that the recognition and succession of the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders are religious matters that must be decided exclusively by Tibetan Buddhists, free from interference by the Government of China or the Chinese Communist Party. ###