Daines pushes Senate resolution condemning Chinese Communist Party on its anniversary

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Sen. Steve Daines is introducing a resolution on Thursday condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on its anniversary, decrying the authoritarian regime for its "tyrannical ambitions" that have destroyed "countless lives." 

Daines, R-Mont., follows Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who introduced a similar resolution in the House of Representatives last week along with bipartisan co-sponsors including House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.

"Over the past 100 years, the Chinese Communist Party has overseen the deaths of millions and committed countless more human rights and religious freedom violations in its tyrannical reign of terror." Daines said in a statement. "While China’s dictators may celebrate today, Americans must remember the lives and freedoms that have been destroyed and those still living in fear of the CCP. We can never turn a blind eye to the crimes against humanity that the CCP has, and continues to, commit."

Daines' resolution recounts millions who were killed by the CCP during its history, including approximately 4.7 million landowners from 1949 to 1953; 712,000 "Counter-revolutionaries" killed and 1.3 million sentenced to labor reform between 1950 and 1952; and 30 million who died as a result of the Great Famine. 

CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY CONDEMNED BY BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION FOR 100 YEARS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

The resolution also notes about 1 million Uighur Muslims who have been the subject of genocide in recent years, China's menacing of Taiwan, and its complete takeover of Hong Kong. 

"[T]he Senate solemnly remembers the countless lives that the Chinese Communist Party has destroyed and the people currently living in fear of its tyrannical ambitions," the resolution says. 

Many senators, especially Republicans, also have vocally condemned China over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 4 million people globally, though that is not included in the Daines resolution. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds during the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Xi's government has overseen genocide and human rights abuses. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) ((AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein))

The House resolution from Fitzpatrick also covered many of the same "grotesque human rights abuses" as the Daines resolution, and said that the House of Representatives "looks forward to the day that the Chinese Communist Party no longer exists."

"Under the slogan of ‘follow the party forever,’ General Secretary Xi Jinping is marking the occasion through a wave of propaganda and triumphalism, especially about the party's earliest days, rewriting history," Gallagher said in a Tuesday press conference about the CCP's anniversary. 

"And in Wuhan of all places, the party put on a giant light show. Buildings and bridges are being lit up with the hammer and sickle. CCP officials have even set up a website where individuals where individuals can report on their neighbors" who won't sufficiently support the party during the anniversary, Gallagher added. 

This screenshot purportedly shows hundreds of prisoners shackled and blindfolded who are believed to be from China's minority Uighur Muslims, reports claim. (War on Fear/ Twitter)

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Gallagher called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to bring the resolution to the floor, saying that Pelosi was previously "a very forceful denouncer of the CCP's human rights abuses in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square." 

The Senate is out so Daines' resolution won't be able to be voted on until at least July 12. But it is likely to get at least some verbal support from senators – the chamber recently passed a sprawling bill aimed at competing with China economically and militarily with a significant bipartisan majority.