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Factories in Xinjiang are forcing inmates of re-education camps to work
Photo: CCTV / AP
The US is increasing pressure on China for suppressing the Uyghurs.
A few days ago, the White House announced the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and according to a newly passed bill, goods from the Chinese region of Xinjiang will soon be boycotted as well.
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill banning the importation of goods from the Xinjiang region of China that are alleged to have been produced by forced labor.
House members voted 428 in favor of the bill on Wednesday.
This requires companies to present "clear and convincing evidence" that the goods imported from the region were not produced through forced labor, for example by members of the Uighur minority.
Mass surveillance, torture, solitary confinement and forced sterilization
"Beijing is currently waging a brutal and accelerating campaign of repression against the Uighur people and other Muslim minorities," said House Chairwoman Nancy Pelosi before the vote. "In Xinjiang and across China, millions of people are suffering appalling human rights violations." She referred to mass surveillance, torture, solitary confinement, and forced sterilization. She added, "And the Chinese government's exploitation of forced labor extends across the oceans to our coasts and around the world."
China has consistently denied allegations regarding its treatment of the Uyghurs.
The US Senate has already passed a similar bill.
The two texts must now be brought into harmony with one another.
The bill must then be signed by President Joe Biden.
It is unclear whether the push has the support of the White House.
The vote came shortly after the White House announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Washington had justified the move with China's "genocide" of the Uighur minority, which Beijing sharply rejected.
In a separate vote, the House of Representatives also passed a resolution according to which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "has failed to comply with its own human rights obligations."
The resolution addresses concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who accused a Chinese Communist Party leader of sexual abuse.
Peng disappeared from the public for a while afterwards.
Later on, she talked to IOC President Thomas Bach, among other things, in video calls.
The IOC has been sharply criticized for its reluctance to take the case.
muk / AFP
