12 Japanese to suspend business deals involving forced Uyghur labour in China's Xinjiang

While the United States and Canada have already termed China’s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur minority as ‘genocide’, now, at least twelve Japanese companies have reportedly announced that they would cease business deals with Chinese firms found to be benefitting from the forced labour of ethnic community in western Xinjiang area. As per the Kyodo News report, pressure has been mounting on the companies based in Japan to take firm action against reported human rights abuses in the supply chain especially after the US and the UK have imposed import restrictions on cotton and other products from the autonomous region. 

The United Nations (UN) has estimated that there are nearly one million Muslims who have been detained in the Asian country’s remote region since 2017. Meanwhile, activists claim that several human rights violations are taking place in Xinjiang. But, China has condemned the allegations and claims that the camps in the area are set up to provide ‘vocational training’ to tackle extremism. Meanwhile, UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab wants the United Nations investigators to be given urgent access to Uyghur camps in Xinjiang as he warned that human right abuses in the Chinese province are taking place on an “industrial level”. 

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Canada's Parliament Votes On China's Treatment Of Uyghurs

Canada on Monday became the second country in the world to describe China’s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur minority as a ‘genocide’ after the House of Commons voted on the western Xinjiang region. Even though Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet abstained from the contentious vote, the parliamentary move is likely to further raise the diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. The lawmakers approved the non-binding motion which was proposed by the opposition Conservatives to recognise China’s actions in Xinjiang where according to the United Nations (UN) at least one million Uyghurs are ‘detained’. 

Canada’s move came after the United States made the determination shortly before former US President Donald Trump left office. Further, a similar attempt on a vote was made in the United Kingdom (UK) but failed earlier this month. All members of the ruling Liberal Party voted in favour of the motion except reportedly the foreign affairs minister, Marc Garneau who abstained on behalf of the government. Trudeau and the senior members of his cabinet did not attend the Monday vote. 

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