China has adopted a resolution condemning a series of U.S. sanctions against the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and providing support for affected companies, state media reported.
The U.S. introduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, or UFLPA, in 2022 with the goal of ensuring that American entities are not funding forced labor among ethnic minorities in the region.
As of August this year, Americans were banned from doing business with 73 companies on the act’s Entity List, although a broader prohibition on importing any goods produced even in part by the slave labor of Uyghurs was already in place.
All 73 blacklisted companies are accused of either working directly with local authorities in Xinjiang region, where the majority of the mostly Muslim minority live, to forcibly employ imprisoned Uyghurs, or else of sourcing inputs from companies that do so.
The sanctioned companies are involved in industries such as textiles and clothing and silicon-based solar products.
The Chinese resolution, which took effect on Monday, aims to “expose to both the international community and the people of Xinjiang, what is clearly the U.S. sinister intention in implementing sanctions against Xinjiang, to reveal the U.S. suppression of the region’s enterprises and its undermining of Xinjiang’s social stability and development,” Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
“The rights of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are guaranteed and people live harmonious lives,” the resolution stated, according to Xinhua.
“However, neglecting these facts and such progress, the U.S. maliciously slanders the human rights situation in Xinjiang,” it said.
“U.S. unilateral sanctions and the implementation of long-arm jurisdiction violate international law and business ethics, undermine the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and disrupt the international trade order.”
Calling the UFLPA “unwarranted,” the news agency said the resolution urged the U.S. to “restore a fair market environment for sanctioned enterprises, a development environment in which people in Xinjiang can pursue a happy life, and a fair economic, trade and rule of law environment for the international community.”
Under the resolution, local governments are encouraged to help sanctioned companies expand their domestic and international markets, promote their products, boost innovation, and strengthen the appeal of company brands, according to Xinhua.
RELATED STORIES
US blacklists five more Chinese firms over Uyghur slavery
US imported cars tied to Uyghur slave labor, Senate report says
US officials pledge to close forced-labor import loophole
Since 2021, the U.S. government has accused China of carrying out a campaign of “genocide” against Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang, including by sterilizing women, banning the exercise of culture and imprisoning many Uyghurs in high-security internment camps.
Escaped Uyghurs report being forced to work for Chinese companies for little or no money in order to leave the camps.
Beijing denies that any genocide or slavery is taking place and has defended what it says are “poverty alleviation” programs providing training in vocational skills.
Edited by Mike Firn.
