The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed overwhelmingly a bill to ban most imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, to block entry to the United States of products from the
"forced labor"
Uyghurs.
In a rare moment of union between Democrats and Republicans, the text was adopted by 406 votes against only three opposing votes.
It has yet to be approved by the Senate and promulgated by the Republican President to enter into force.
Democrats hold a majority in the House, while the Senate is controlled by Republicans.
Washington, like many human rights organizations, accuses China of detaining more than a million members of this Muslim minority in
"re-education camps"
in this region in the northwest of the country.
Beijing denies this figure and speaks of vocational training centers, intended to help the population to find a job and thus to move away from the temptation of Islamism and terrorism.
Read also: Uyghurs of Xinjiang: how China found itself in an impasse in a few weeks
The proposed law provides for a ban on all imports from Xinjiang.
The only waivers could be granted by US Customs if there is
"clear and compelling evidence"
that a product was not made through forced labor.
According to the report that accompanied the presentation of the text to Congress, in March, several goods that have already entered the American market are affected by the use of forced labor, in particular fabrics, shoes, cell phones, computer equipment and even more. tea.
The report listed companies accused of having benefited, including Adidas, Nike, Calvin Klein, H&M or Coca-Cola.
Since it enjoys broad support from both parties, this bill, as well as another text on
"forced labor by Uyghurs"
, sends
"a strong signal to Beijing and to the world that the US Congress does not
( ...)
will not allow human rights to be sacrificed in the name of commercial interests, ”
said Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in the hemicycle.
The Trump administration announced on September 14 that it was going to block the importation of a series of goods from China's Xinjiang region, accusing Beijing of using
“forced labor”
by the Uyghur Muslim minority there.
It is
"a clear message"
addressed to the Chinese authorities: "It is time that they put an end to the forced labor supervised by the State and that they respect the human rights of all people", had declared in a statement. the head of diplomacy Mike Pompeo.
Read also: China accused of forcibly sterilizing Uyghurs
