The US House of Representatives wants to ban goods from Xinjiang

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill banning the import of goods from China’s Xinjiang region. These are supposed to be through forced labour.

428 House members voted in favor of the bill on Wednesday. This requires companies to provide “clear and convincing evidence”. Goods imported from the region must not have been produced by forced labor, for example, by members of the Uyghur minority.

“Beijing is currently waging a brutal and ever-accelerating crackdown on the Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities.” On this, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote. “In Xinjiang and throughout China, millions of people suffer horrific human rights violations.”

It referred to mass surveillance, torture, solitary confinement and enforced sterilization. She added, “The Chinese government’s exploitation of forced labor extends across oceans. As far as our coasts and all over the world.” China has consistently denied allegations of its treatment of Uyghurs.

The US Senate has already passed a similar bill. The two texts must now reconcile with each other. Then President Joe Biden must sign the bill. It is unclear whether the initiative has the support of the White House.

The vote came shortly after the White House announced its diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Washington justified the move by China’s “genocide” against the Uyghur minority, which Beijing strongly rejected.

In a separate vote, the US House of Representatives also passed a resolution. According to this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has “failed to comply with its human rights obligations”. The decision addresses concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. She accused the Chinese Communist Party leader of sexual assault.

Then Bing disappeared from the audience for a while. Later, among other things, I spoke to IOC President Thomas Bach in video calls. The International Olympic Committee has come under fire for its reluctance to take up the issue.