Sen. Cruz on China’s Announced Sanctions: The Chinese Communist Party is ‘Terrified and Lashing Out’

Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced sanctions against several U.S. officials, including me, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for speaking out against the horrific human rights abuses occurring in the authoritarian state.

In response, I said:

"The Chinese Communist Party is terrified and lashing out. They forced over one million Uighurs into concentration camps and engaged in ethnic cleansing, including horrific forced abortions and sterilizations. These are egregious human rights atrocities that cannot be tolerated. Unfortunately for CCP leaders, I don't have plans to travel to the authoritarian regime that covered up the coronavirus pandemic and endangered millions of lives worldwide."

In 2019, I led a successful push to secure the blacklisting of companies that the CCP uses in its oppression of minorities such as the Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including by introducing the TIANANMEN Act.

Since then, I have led the charge to fundamentally reassess the U.S.-China relationship and counter Chinese censorship in the wake of the CCP's coronavirus coverup.

Last week, I applauded the Trump administration's decision to sanction officials in the CCP for committing egregious human rights violations. In May, I introduced three bills to counter Chinese propaganda and hold China accountable for the types of medical and political censorship that helped fuel the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. These bills build on previous initiatives led by me targeting China's censorship, oppression, and human rights violations, including bills of relief for imprisoned political dissidents.

Learn more about my comprehensive push to counter Chinese propaganda here. Learn more about my successful push to prevent the CCP from blanketing the U.S. with propaganda here.