Federal Investment Schemes Must Halt Funding U.S.-Sanctioned Companies Involved in Uyghur Genocide

  • May 23, 2023

CFU PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 6:00 PM ET

Sabrina Sohail: [email protected] 

(650) 703-4523

https://www.campaignforuyghurs.org

Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) condemns the alarming revelation that millions of federal employees can invest in Chinese companies sanctioned by the U.S. government via its flagship retirement plan. These companies, labeled as a clear danger to national security and accused of profiting from Uyghur forced labor and the Uyghur genocide, must not receive a single cent from the hard-earned savings of federal employees.

In a damning analysis conducted by Washington D.C.-based consulting firm Kilo Alpha Strategies, using data from the Coalition for a Prosperous America, CFU has learned that the federal government’s employee retirement plan, boasting a staggering $720 billion in assets, offers its 6.8 million members the option to invest in mutual funds containing holdings in Chinese companies sanctioned or on watch lists maintained by at least nine U.S. government agencies. These companies include key players in the defense, aerospace, solar energy, and surveillance sectors.

Executive Director Rushan Abbas said “The federal government’s allowance of federal employees’ retirement funds to support companies involved in flagrant human rights abuses and posing severe threats to national security is a disgrace. We demand immediate and decisive action from the U.S. government to ensure that its own sanctions against these abhorrent companies are strictly enforced. Federal retirement plans must not provide a platform for investment in entities complicit in gross violations of human rights.”

Investment opportunities to Chinese companies are being made available through the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) run by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) which raises the alarming lack of coordination among government agencies regarding multiple U.S. sanctions lists. It is imperative that federal employees’ retirement savings are not tainted by complicity in supporting an authoritarian regime and perpetuating the suffering of innocent individuals.

CFU calls upon the U.S. government to take urgent and tangible steps to address this egregious violation. We demand a thorough review of the federal retirement plan, accompanied by strict measures to ensure that investments are completely free from any association with companies implicated in the Uyghur genocide, Uyghur forced labor and national security risks. 

Picture of Jacob

editor-muyesser

Campaign for Uyghurs

We defend the human rights of Uyghur people and the free world by exposing and confronting the Chinese government's genocide, and empowering Uyghur women and youth in the diaspora.

Donate Now

READ MORE

Forced Labor, Coercive Land-Use Transfers, and Forced Assimilation in Xinjiang’s Agricultural Production
Located in the northwest of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region boasts long hours of sunshine and ample water for irrigation — making the region geographically ideal for growing cotton. Cotton grown in Xinjiang, which has good coloration and long fiber, is favored in both domestic and foreign markets.
‘This Has Been Delayed For Too Long’
Source: RFA Rushan Abbas, a former broadcaster for RFA’s Uyghur Service and the director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Uighurs exile group, recently testified at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington about rights violations in northwest China’s
Uyghurs in Exile Launch Campaign Calling on China to Release Video of Missing Family Members
Source: RFA More than a dozen ethnic Uyghurs living in exile have called on China to release video of family members held in political “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after Chinese state media published what it
Tough Curbs on Burials
Source: RFA HONG KONG—Ethnic minority Uyghurs from the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi say authorities attach strict conditions when they release the bodies of Uyghurs who die in custody. Hundreds of Uyghurs were detained as part of a broad crackdown
I’ve fought China’s slow-motion genocide of Uighur Muslims. Now, my family are victims.
Source: USA Today   The world is finally waking up to the ongoing and terrifying violations of human rights against the Uighurs — a Muslim minority in Northwest China. My own family is victim to these violations. As both an American citizen and
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference March 11, 2019 I would like to thank President Tsai’s comments and her for taking the time to be here out of her busy schedule. I can’t help but just
On Capitol Hill, persecuted Muslims unite to protect religious minorities’ rights
(RNS) — More than 125 members of the minority Ahmadi Muslim sect spent Monday (April 1) on Capitol Hill advocating for international religious freedom causes — particularly lending their voices on behalf of beleaguered Uighur Muslims. As part of its
As Countries Seek Trade With China, Imprisoned Uyghur Community Has Become “Collateral Damage”
China’s top trade negotiator is traveling to Washington this week as tension over trade intensifies between the two nations. President Trump is threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Chinese imports after the U.S. accused China of

STAY
INFORMED

Add your name to our mailing list so we can keep you updated about upcoming events, speciality drives, new initiatives and more.