The US Congress passed a bill on Thursday prohibiting imports from China’s Xinjiang region due to Uyghur Muslims’ forced labour.
Conflicts between Washington and Beijing are likely to rise as a result of this. The Senate unanimously enacted the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act on Thursday, following its approval by the House of Representatives earlier this week, according to Kyodo News.
President Joe Biden must sign it into law, which the White House has stated he will do.
It instructs customs officials in the United States to assume that commodities made in Xinjiang are made with forced labour and that they should be prohibited from entering the country, with the exception of items from importers who can give clear evidence to the contrary.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted, “This Senate will not remain silent in the face of genocide against the Uyghur people.” “America will not stand for it, and neither should the rest of the world.”
China has been chastised around the world for detaining Uyghur Muslims in mass detention camps, interfering with their religious activities, and forcing community members to undergo forcible re-education or indoctrination.
The United States was the first country in the world to label Chinese actions in Xinjiang as “genocide” earlier this year.
