A new bill passed by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday will ban imports from China’s Xinjiang made with forced labour and threatening sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for persecuting the minority community.
The bill, passed by a vote of 428 to 1 came days after the US announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over rights abuses in Xinjiang. It further intends to ensure that “goods made with forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the US market.”
According to a news report by American news website Axios, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, requires corporations to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” that imports from Xinjiang are not made with forced labour.
The bill to take effect must now pass the Senate and be signed by the US President.
The legislation targets “goods, wares, articles, and merchandise imported directly from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other persecuted groups in China.” The legislative text highlights the poor conditions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and members of other Muslim minority groups in a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps.
The prisoners are forced to produce “textiles, electronics, food products, shoes, tea, and handicrafts” at a network of government-subsidized factories in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China, according to legislation.
