US ban on 'forced labor' imports from China's Xinjiang comes into force

US ban on 'forced labor' imports from China's Xinjiang comes into force

Law signed by President Biden last December entails tough regulations on import of goods from Uyghur-majority region

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Stricter US curbs on import of products from China’s Xinjiang region came into effect on Tuesday.

Companies bringing in goods from the Uyghur-majority region now have to prove they are not produced using forced labor.

Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law by US President Joe Biden last December, foreign individuals responsible for forced labor in Xinjiang will face sanctions.

The US and several other countries accuse China of pursuing a policy of genocide against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region.

According to UN data, at least 1 million Uyghurs are kept against their will in places Beijing calls “vocational training centers,” which critics say are actually places for indoctrination, abuse and torture.

Beijing has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations as “lies and (a) political virus.”

The US Congress, citing a 2020 State Department report, said Chinese firms were being offered incentives “to open factories in close proximity to the internment camps, and to receive transferred detainees at satellite manufacturing sites in other provinces.”

It accused local governments of receiving “additional funds for each inmate forced to work in these sites at a fraction of minimum wage or without any compensation.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin dismissed the law as “a way to suppress China under the guise of human rights defense.”

“The US is undermines international rules and damages the stability of supply chains,” he said at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, according to Chinese daily Global Times.

Under the UFLPA, Washington has said it could also take action against other governments and companies that continue business with Xinjiang.

Jim Wormington, advocate for corporate accountability at Human Rights Watch, said the new US law means “it’s no longer business as usual for companies profiting from forced labor in China, and Xinjiang especially.”

“Companies should swiftly identify any supply chain links to Xinjiang and exit the region or risk violating US law and seeing their goods detained at the US border,” he added.

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