“The Transnational Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy 63 Members of Parliament Concerned about Forced Labor in Tibet

Sixty-three members of the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy (IPCC), including U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, and U.S. Representative Ted Yoho, from the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries, issued a joint statement calling attention to the issue of forced labor in Tibet, China.

“The Inter-Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy released on Tuesday a study by Adrian Zenz, the Coalition’s advisor on ethnic minority issues, which focuses on the militarization of Tibet through the Chinese government’s “re-education camps” in Xinjiang. The report, “Education and Training,” found that the same model is being used in Tibet. The report notes that while there is no evidence of illegal detention in Tibetan “training-for-work” programs, signs of forced labor persist.

“In a statement, the Transnational Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy noted that the report reveals that Chinese authorities plan to recruit up to 500,000 laborers in Tibet, involving forced indoctrination, intrusive surveillance, militarized management, and harsh punitive measures that have again triggered mass forced labor. Vocational Training” concerns. This move by Chinese authorities is just as troubling as their implementation of mandatory vocational training and large-scale labor transfers in Xinjiang.

The statement stresses that the report adds to recent evidence of serious human rights abuses committed by Chinese authorities in recent decades in Tibetan areas, where religious freedom, systematic political persecution, and ethnic assimilation of Tibetans are worsening, and highlights the refusal of the current Chinese leadership to respect basic human rights in defiance of international opinion, including that of the United Nations.

The statement urged the undersigned governments to implement Magnitsky Act-style sanctions against responsible Chinese officials; to conduct business risk assessments and revisions of import projects to Tibet and other areas affected by China’s forced labor policies; and to require China to implement a policy of reciprocal access to Tibet.

The statement also called on the UN Secretary General to establish a special rapporteur mechanism to investigate the issue of forced labor and ethnic oppression in China.