China on Tuesday lashed out at the passage of a US House of Representatives bill threatening to impose sanctions on China's alleged use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region, denying the allegations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin
said the bill maliciously denigrated the human rights situation in Xinjiang.
"The so-called problem of forced
labor is definitely a lie fabricated by some organizations and officials in the United States and the West," Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.
The House voted 406-3 to declare that any
goods manufactured in Xinjiang were probably manufactured’ with the forced
labor of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned
them from being imported into the United States. Is.
If the law is enforced, it could force
companies to avoid the region, which produces 80% of the cotton in China, one
of the world's leading fiber producers, as well as tomatoes and manufactured
goods. Prepares
Members of Congress say the move is needed’
to put pressure on China to stop the campaign, which has resulted in the brutal
detention of more than one million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim
ethnic groups.
Some companies and trade groups have
opposed a major Xinjiang declaration because it puts a strain on private
enterprises to ensure that a complex global supply chain is free of materials
that could lead to forced labor. Developed with
To ensure fair trade, the US military has
banned forced labor since 1930. Enforcement has increased in recent years, and
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stopped shipments through eight
companies and entities operating in Xinjiang over the past year. The bill,
which was passed’ on Tuesday, will be further enforced, with the burden being
placed on any company operating in Xinjiang or purchasing equipment from there
to prove that it is not tainted.
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