; Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to harass, disappear, and detain peaceful advocates for human rights, religious freedom, ethnic minority rights and the rule of law, and their family members, such as Ilham Tohti, Gao Zhisheng, Wang Bingzhang, Lobsang Tsering, Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong), Liu Xianbin, Qin Yongmin, Wu Gan, Zhang Haitao, Wang Quanzhang, Tashi Wangchug, Tang Jingling, Liu Feiyue, Wang Yi, Jiang Rong, Cao Yuguang, Abdurehim Heyit, Eziz Emet, Hebibulla Tohti, Drugdra, Lobsang Gephel, Sonam Dargye, Thardoe Gyaltsen, Gulmira Imin, and Huang Qi, among many others; Whereas according to the Political Prisoner Database maintained by the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to detain over 1,500 political and religious prisoners, though the number is presumed to be much higher; Whereas Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent advocate for human rights and political reform Liu Xiaobo died in state custody in 2017, the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in state custody since Carl Von Ossietzky died in 1938 after being detained by the Nazi German government; Whereas over a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic and religious minorities are interned in political reeducation camps in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and elsewhere in China and are subjected to the forced renunciation of faith, torture, and forced assimilation of their language and culture through actions that may constitute crimes against humanity; Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China harasses, detains, and tortures human rights lawyers who take on cases deemed politically sensitive; prevents Chinese workers from forming independent unions and engages in an ongoing crackdown on labor advocates, organizations, and their supporters