Senator Reintroduces China, North Korean Sanctions Bills

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently reintroduced several bills that could lead to sanctions against China and North Korea:

• The Coronavirus Origin Validation, Investigation, and Determination (COVID) Act, which was first introduced in 2021, would allow the U.S. to impose new sanctions against China if the country “fails to allow for a credible and comprehensive investigation” into the origins of COVID-19 at Wuhan laboratories. The bill has 14 Republican co-sponsors.
• The South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, first introduced in 2017, would impose sanctions on Chinese people and entities participating in the country’s “illegitimate activities to aggressively assert its expansive maritime and territorial claims in these disputed regions.” Sen. Ben Cardin. D-Md., is a co-sponsor.
• The Uyghur Human Rights Sanctions Review Act, first introduced in December, would require the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to work with the State and Justice Departments to determine whether certain Chinese technology companies, including Hikvision, Dahua, Tiandy and BGI, are involved in human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang. Each of those companies are either on the Commerce Department’s Entity List or have affiliates on the list. If the companies are determined to be involved in human rights abuses, they could be subject to sanctions. The bill has companion legislation in the House.
• The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act, first introduced in 2014, would authorize the North Korean Human Rights Act for another five years and modify the North Korean Sanctions and Policy Act of 2016 to impose sanctions on foreign officials involved in forcibly repatriating North Koreans back to North Korea. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is a co-sponsor.