China reacted angrily to President Donald Trump’s approval of legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters last month, but movement on another congressional bill, backing Uighur Muslims in China’s northwest, has cut even closer to the bone and could trigger reprisals and hurt efforts to resolve the U.S.-China trade war. U.S. congressional sources and China experts say Beijing appears especially sensitive to provisions in the Uighur Act passed by the House of Representatives this week banning exports to China of items that can be used for surveillance of individuals, including facial and voice-recognition technology. China will also be upset that the bill – which still requires Senate passage and Trump’s signature to become law – calls for sanctions against a member of the powerful politburo for the first time.
