The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a law restricting imports of products made in Xinjiang to condemn the “forced labor” of the Uyghur Muslim minority in this region of northwest China, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Members of the Lower House voted 428 to 1 in favor of a text that requires companies to demonstrate “with clear and convincing evidence” that no good imported from this region has been manufactured by forced labor.
“Right now, Beijing is orchestrating a brutal and accelerated campaign of repression against the Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities,” House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote.
“In Xinjiang and across China, millions of people suffer outrageous human rights violations: from mass surveillance and police discipline to mass torture, including solitary confinement and sterilizations forced, through the intimidation of journalists and activists who dared to expose the truth, ”she underlined.
“The exploitation of forced labor by the Chinese government crosses the oceans to our coasts and around the world,” she added.
Beijing, which rejects accusations relating to its treatment of Uyghurs, did not immediately react to the vote in the US Parliament.
The US Senate Passed A Similar Bill In July. The Two Texts Will Have To Be Harmonized.
The final version will then require ratification from President Joe Biden, but the White House has not been clear on support for the text.
This vote of representatives comes days after the announcement of a diplomatic boycott by the United States of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to denounce what Washington calls the “genocide” of the Uyghur minority and other violations of human rights. human rights.
In another vote, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution declaring that the International Olympic Committee “has failed to live up to its own human rights commitments” amid doubts over the security of the country. Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault.
Companies will now have to demonstrate “with clear and convincing evidence” that no good imported from this part of China has been manufactured by forced labor.