US HOUSE OKS A BILL BARRING IMPORTS MADE BY XINJIANG FORCED LABOUR

Thu 09 December 2021:

The US House of Representatives passed forced labor legislation on Wednesday, prohibiting the importation of goods from China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. However, despite widespread bipartisan support, the bill’s immediate path to President Joe Biden’s signature remains unclear.

This is one of three measures that have received widespread support in response to Beijing’s treatment of the Muslim minority known as the Uyghurs.

By a vote of 428 to 1, the House passed the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.’ Before it can become law, it must first be approved by the Senate and signed by President Biden.

All goods coming from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has set up a vast network of detention camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim groups, would be presumed to have been made with forced labor under the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’ or the Uyghur measure.

“The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, requires corporations to prove with “clear and convincing evidence” that imports from Xinjiang are not made with forced labour, American news website Axios reported.

The Chinese government denies human rights violations in Xinjiang, but the United States and many human rights organizations claim Beijing is committing genocide in the region.

Given Xinjiang’s role in supplying much of the world’s solar panel materials, Republicans have accused Biden’s White House and Democratic colleagues in Congress of dragging their feet on the bill because it would obstruct President Biden’s renewable energy agenda.

Democrats and the White House, on the other hand, deny that the bill is being delayed.

The Democratic-led House also passed two other bills related to China and human rights by landslide margins.

The United States House of Representatives voted 428 to 0 in favor of a resolution declaring that the International Olympic Committee had violated human rights by cooperating with the Chinese government.

Another resolution calling for UN action was approved by a vote of 427 to 1. This document denounces China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities, while also urging UN action.

Due to China’s human rights violations, the Biden administration announced on Monday that US government officials would boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Athletes from the United States will be allowed to compete in the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games in Beijing, but the Biden administration will not be sending any diplomats or officials.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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