The U.S has banned all imports from China’s Xinjiang region citing forced labour amid worsening relations between Beijing and Washington, the ban comes after Joe Biden signed a new law on Thursday banning all products made in China’s Xinjiang region.
The law was pushed by U.S Congress and passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate by unanimous votes earlier this month.
The law imposes a near-blanket ban on the import to the U.S of goods from Xinjiang by requiring suppliers to first prove their products were not made with forced labour. This move will help US companies to have a fallback in future if the political climate improves between US and China as it leaves a door open to prove no forced labour was used instead of a blanket ban.
China has long rejected allegations of abuse in Xinjiang, accusing countries and human rights organisations of launching “slanderous attacks” about conditions for Muslim Uighurs and other minorities in the far western region.
The legislation provides for sanctions on any individuals the US determines are responsible for forced labour in Xinjiang. It will complicate supply chains for some US companies that source materials in China.
After the law was signed by Joe Biden, the U.S most advanced and biggest chip maker Intel Corp sent letters requesting all its suppliers not to outsource products from Xinjiang which was met with backlash in China forcing the company to issue an apology to Chinese customers and partners publically.
An independent UK-Based tribunal of which its members have never visited Xinjiang ruled last week, the Chinese government had committed genocide, crimes against humanity and torture of Uighurs and other minorities. But some analysts questioned its independence, the selection process of its members and how it determined the crimes committed in a place they have never visited.
The U.S also boycotted upcoming Beijing winter Olympics citing the situation in Xinjiang this month but China responded to the boycott by saying, the U.S was never invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing winter games in February 2022.
After the ban was announced, China announced sanctions on four members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom in retaliation for penalties imposed on Chinese officials for alleged abuses in the region.
Joe Biden administration also imposed trade sanctions last week on several Chinese companies and institutions, a number of Chinese technology companies accusing the government in Beijing of advancing high-tech surveillance on the Uighurs.
As the U.S ban all imports from the Xinjiang region of China, the world is yet to hear any support of such moves from Muslim countries which should be the most concerned in this regard but have remained quiet.
Many people across the world have been asking themselves a simple question” why does the U.S like so many Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China but not Muslims in other countries and regions under mistreatments”, they have also reminded the U.S that it issued a ban on Muslims from entering the U.S and also attacking, killing, displacing and destroying many Muslim countries over democracy.
