American Investors Need to Stop Funding ‘China Inc’ to End CCP’s Genocide: Former Senior Officials

Now is the time for all Americans to take action to stop the Chinese regime’s genocide against Uyghur Muslims, a state-led crime reminiscent of the Holocaust, said former State Department officials Keith Krach and Ellie Cohanim.

Meanwhile, more than one million Uyghurs are currently detained inside China’s internment camps—facilities that the Chinese regime has labeled as “vocational training schools.”

The sanctions are the right approach because the CCP “can only understand strength,” according to Cohanim.

Cohanim previously served as U.S. deputy special envoy to monitor and combat anti-semitism, and is now a visiting fellow at the U.S. nonprofit Independent Women’s Forum.

Keith Krach is the former undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and environment.

“This is the time to stop it. If we don’t, then it’s going to continue. And it’s going to spread,” Krach said.

“We’re seeing these exact same tactics practiced by the Chinese Communist Party, where they’re calling the Uyghur religion a communicable plague. They describe the Uyghurs themselves as malignant tumors. And they’ve described the Uyghurs as being similar to weeds, and that you must use chemicals to get all of them,” Cohanim told The Epoch Times.

“The sound of emptying the cash register will be heard loud and clear on the other side of the world in Xinjiang,” the op-ed said.

Krach said, “What’s really sad is that the average American investor is unknowingly financing the Chinese Communist Party.” He said that passive investments in index funds, mutual funds, or ETFs that in turn invest in Chinese companies have contributed to China’s human rights abuses, surveillance system, or military development.

Cohanim encouraged American investors—such as people who have savings in a pension fund, investments in a mutual fund, or those who donate to a foundation or a university endowment fund—to contact their fund managers and brokerage companies to demand transparency over their investments.

“If your broker or the fund representative is not willing to share information about where you’re invested, then it might be time to look elsewhere,” Cohanim added.

Aside from average American investors, Krach said that corporations and organizations that have a powerful voice also have a responsibility.

For example, Krach called on the Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) to put CCP’s persecution in Xinjiang on the agenda of its meetings.

“I couldn’t even see it on their website—their list of topics. I’ve been going there for 20 years,” Krach said, referring to the WEF.

Krach also called on the ESG community—investors that emphasize strong environmental, social, and corporate governance conduct in their investments—to speak up about the persecution in Xinjiang. For corporate chief executive officers, they should make sure that their supply chains are clean, he added.

For business leaders, Krach said that conflicts of interest affect corporate responsibility. Since many companies have large stakes in the Chinese market, they don’t want to upset the Chinese authorities out of fear of retribution.

“I believe nobody should bend the knee to the Chinese Communist Party. We clearly have the moral high ground here,” Krach said.