U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney, homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida after an eight-month deployment to the Middle East. This historic deployment saw 51 engagements with Iranian-backed terrorists, the most engagements with a foreign adversary by a Naval vessel...
The Office of the Surgeon General announced a public advisory warning of alarmingly high levels of parental stress. The advisory and the Surgeon General’s accompanying op-ed, offered a set of “solutions” that fail to address the actual wants and needs of struggling...
Casi dos meses tras las elecciones presidenciales en Venezuela, que dieron como resultado una victoria aplastante por parte de Edmundo González, el narco-dictador Nicolás Maduro mantiene su pretensión ilegítima de haber ganado los comicios. Desde las elecciones, la...
Almost two months after the presidential election in Venezuela, which resulted in the landslide victory of Edmundo Gonzalez, narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro maintains his illegitimate claim to winning the election. Since the election, the dictator has arbitrarily...
Dr. Gulshan Abbas, the sister of staunch international Uyghur advocate, Rushan Abbas, remains detained in a Chinese prison. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and colleagues released a joint statement ahead of the six-year anniversary of Dr....
“Made in China 2025” initiative, nearing Beijing’s target, threatens U.S. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) September 10, 2024 Washington Post …[I]n May 2015, Beijing went public with a 10-year plan to dominate high-value, high-technology sectors…. [W]ith the decade...
Chinese technology company Tiandy’s products are used by the Chinese Communist Party to track and torture Uyghur Muslims and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Recent reports reveal Tiandy sells the same technology to the Iranian regime, which may be using it to punish peaceful Iranian protesters.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, calling on their departments to determine whether Tiandy’s actions merit U.S. sanctions.
“Recent reporting has shed light on Chinese technology company Tiandy and its support of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surveillance regime, which allows Beijing to carry out systemic human rights abuses. Tiandy has also reportedly exported its technology outside of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including to other authoritarian regimes.”
“Tiandy is not currently subject to U.S. sanctions or restrictive economic measures. In light of the company’s reported operations in both the XUAR and Iran, I request that you determine and report to the Congress whether Tiandy has engaged in conduct that may meet the criteria for designation pursuant to the authorities provided by Congress. Additionally, if your review determines Tiandy has engaged in conduct that meets the designation criteria, I urge you to take appropriate action at once.”
Want more information? Read the full text of the letter below.
Dear Secretary Blinken, Secretary Yellen, and Secretary Raimondo:
Recent reporting has shed light on Chinese technology company Tiandy and its support of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surveillance regime, which allows Beijing to carry out systemic human rights abuses. Tiandy has also reportedly exported its technology outside of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including to other authoritarian regimes. I write to urge you to review whether Tiandy has engaged in conduct that may meet the criteria for designation pursuant to Iran human rights sanctions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act; the Global Magnitsky sanctions regime; the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020; or any other relevant provision of law.
Tiandy’s chief executive, Dai Lin, is a member of the CCP and served as one of 2,270 delegates to the 18th Party Congress in 2012. Tiandy develops, produces, and markets cameras and related artificial intelligence-enabled software, including an “ethnicity tracking” tool that the company claims can be used to digitally detect someone’s race. PRC officials use Tiandy’s technology to track and torture Uyghurs, and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
According to human rights activists, the Iranian regime has also begun purchasing advanced facial recognition software from Tiandy. The sale of the same technology to Tehran, including to the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), raises serious questions about whether Tiandy’s products are being used against peaceful Iranian protestors. Tiandy’s publicly available marketing materials also reveal the company makes “smart” interrogation tables for use in the XUAR and elsewhere, which integrate a series of peripheral devices used in the interrogation process. These are for use alongside “tiger chairs,” which have affixed leg irons and handcuffs that restrain occupants, often in very painful positions.
Tiandy is not currently subject to U.S. sanctions or restrictive economic measures. In light of the company’s reported operations in both the XUAR and Iran, I request that you determine and report to the Congress whether Tiandy has engaged in conduct that may meet the criteria for designation pursuant to the authorities provided by Congress. Additionally, if your review determines Tiandy has engaged in conduct that meets the designation criteria, I urge you to take appropriate action at once.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,