CHINA-US: US BANS IMPORT OF PRODUCTS MADE IN CHINA'S XINJIANG REGION
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The business news service Axios (December 23) quoted a White House release that US President Biden
signed a bill on December 23 banning imports from China's Xinjiang region and punishing the Chinese
government for its genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Human rights activists say the bill will
impose the first substantive costs the Chinese government has ever faced for its atrocities in Xinjiang and could set a precedent for other countries to follow. The measure imposes sanctions on those responsible for
forced labour in the region and bars imports unless the U.S. determines with "clear and convincing evidence"
that they were not made with forced labour. The Chinese government reacted on December 24 and said the
law violates international law and “maliciously denigrates the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang in
disregard of facts and truth. It is preposterous for the U.S., a country with a deplorable track record of human
rights issues, to accuse and smear China. The U.S. has serious problems of human trafficking and forced
labour."
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