US prepares to block key imports from China's Xinjiang over use of forced labour

United States is reportedly preparing to block import of key products from China’s Xinjiang region after reports of use of forced labour emerged. According to media reports, a formal anuncement on proposed bans, which include cotton and tomato products, was expected on September 8 but was postponed due to scheduling issues.

US President Donald Trump had signed “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” into law which condemns gross human rights violations of ethnic Muslim mirity groups in Xinjiang region in China. It is aimed at holding accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labour, and intrusive surveillance to eradicate ethnic identity and religious beliefs of mirities.

China has repeatedly been accused of using prisoners and ethnic mirities in so-called re-education camps. In December 2019, China denied accusations of using prisoners for forced labour after a London schoolgirl found a mess in a Christmas card, allegedly from inmates at Shanghai's Qingpu Prison. 

mess, as reported by a British daily, read that y were foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison and were forced to work against ir will. y also urged to help, and tify issue to human rights organisation. After report surfaced, British supermarket suspended production at a Chinese factory where mess, supposed to be a cry for help, was claimed to be originated from.

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US sanctions

On July 9, US State Department said that America will t stand idle as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) carries out human rights abuses targeting ethnic mirities in Xinjiang. department had anunced sanctions on three senior Chinese officials and ir families over gross human rights violations, banning ir entry in United States.

Several leaked documents from China have revealed Beijing’s brutal and systematic crackdown on Uighurs, in which y have called it a “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism”. After Uighur militants stabbed more than 150 people at a train station in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a series of speeches delivered to officials, urged party to follow America’s policy of “war on terror”.

Read: China's Top Diplomat Forced To Concede Xinjiang Atrocities; Gives Outrous 'education' Spin

Read: UN Urged By International Community To Probe Human Rights Violations In Xinjiang