The US House of Representatives approved on Wednesday (8) a law to ban imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang. According to information supplied by Reuters, the measure was taken by lawmakers due to a “refutable presumption” that all products from Xinjiang, where the Chinese regime has set up a network of detention camps for Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, are manufactured through forced labor.
The law was approved by an overwhelming majority: 428 representatives voted in favor of the matter and only one against. Now it will be voted on in the Senate; if approved, goes to President Joe Biden’s sanction.
The situation in Xinjiang is the focus of US criticism of China on the issue of human rights: in addition to arbitrary arrests and forced labor, reports point to situations of sexual abuse and forced sterilization in the region. China denies the charges.
This week, the United States announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games, which will be held in February: American athletes will still participate in the competitions, but Washington will not send official representatives to the Chinese capital.
The Biden administration cited “People’s Republic of China’s genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang” as one of the main reasons for the boycott. Also citing human rights violations, the UK, Canada and Australia have announced that they will also diplomatically boycott the Beijing Games.
On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives also approved, by 428 votes to zero, a resolution pointing out that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had violated its own human rights commitments by collaborating with the government of China.
Furthermore, with 427 votes in favor and one against, the House passed another resolution condemning the “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” committed against Uighurs and members of other minority ethnic and religious groups in China and calling for action by the United Nations.
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