Ürümqi, China- The Chinese government has condemned the United States (US) government for meddling in its affairs after it banned all imports made in Xinjiang.
Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now block all imports made in the region. It will also block goods made by firms outside the region, whose links with Xinjiang companies or the Xinjiang government make them complicit.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that the ban underscores President Joe Biden’s commitment to combating forced labour.
“We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labour, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of (China) to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labour,” said Blinken.
The US State Department has estimated that since 2017, up to two million Uyghurs and members of other ethnic groups have been imprisoned in a shadowy network of internment camps where they are reportedly subjected to torture, cruel and inhumane treatment such as physical and sexual abuse, forced labour, and death.
However, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said anti-China forces have concocted the falsehood of so-called forced labour in the Xinjiang region.
“Through a so-called legal way, the US is trying to create forced unemployment in Xinjiang and push decoupling with China around the world. This fully exposes the US’ hegemonic nature of undermining human rights in the name of human rights and disrupting rules in the name of rules,” said Wang.
In addition, Wang said industries in Xinjiang, including its cotton industry, operate with large-scale mechanized production, and the labour rights of people of all ethnic groups in the autonomous region are fully protected.
