March 29, 2024

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US wants to restrict imports from Xinjiang due to forced labor | newsletter

The United States wants to restrict imports of products from China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region that the United States believes were made with the help of forced labor. After the US House of Representatives, the Senate also passed a bill on Thursday (local time) that provides for the future import of these goods into the United States. Imports from the region should generally be prohibited unless it can be demonstrated that the product was created without the use of forced labour. The government will elaborate details on implementation.

US President Joe Biden must sign the bill for it to take effect. The White House had previously agreed to back the plans and said the government shared the view that China should be held accountable for human rights abuses and genocide and that forced labor in Xinjiang should be combated.

In the past few months, the US government has blacklisted several companies in China, among other things, for allegedly suppressing the Muslim Uyghur minority and has banned the import of some solar components from Xinjiang because, according to Washington, they were manufactured using slave labor. will. The United States also imposed sanctions on several biotechnology facilities in China on Thursday.

Experts and human rights organizations estimate that up to one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Hui or other members of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have been sent to re-education camps. The Chinese government accuses Uyghur groups of separatism and terrorism. Critics speak of re-education camps in which Uyghurs are drawn into the ranks of the Communist Party, sometimes with brutal means. Members of minorities are reported to be involved in forced labour. China rejects the allegations, calling them “lies”.

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Washington (dpa-AFX)