Name: The scope of China's use of forced labor in Xinjiang is bigger than we knew
Brand: axios.com
SKU: axios-com-118
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

The scope of China's use of forced labor in Xinjiang is bigger than we knew

preview

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/AxiosChina has constructed a vast string of factories inside the walls of Xinjiang mass internment camps, and Chinese authorities are forcing thousands of Muslim minorities to work in cotton fields, according to two recent investigations.Why it matters: Xinjiang products are deeply integrated into lucrative supply chains around the world. The Chinese Communist Party's official embrace of coerced labor will force Western governments and institutions to choose between pleasing business leaders or enforcing universal human rights values.Details: In the past three years, the Chinese government has forced hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang to perform seasonal labor in the region's cotton fields, according to a December from the BBC. A new from BuzzFeed, based on satellite imagery, interviews and government documents, found more than 100 mass detention facilities in Xinjiang that together contain more than 21 million square feet of factory space. The global response: Forced labor goes against international human rights conventions, but so far the U.S. is the only geopolitical power that has responded with substantive action. But many feel pressure from China to avoid taking similar actions — a pressure that often manifests through economic ties. And some major companies, including Nike and Coca-Cola, have hard against a draft bill, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which aims to keep products made with forced labor out of the U.S.The bottom line: New investigations are revealing the expanded scope and scale of China's forced labor policies in Xinjiang. But so far, governments and companies around the world continue to put profits first.Go deeper: The world has learned of China's sweeping system of forced labor in the Xinjiang garment industry not through fair trade organizations but through independent researchers, journalists and the testimonies of former detainees.Why it matters: This is just one symptom of a bigger problem — the failure of many international institutions and governments to forcefully push back against the Chinese Communist Party's human rights violations. President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that prohibits transactions with eight Chinese software applications, claiming they pose a national security threat given their ability to access private information about their users.Why it matters: The order comes two weeks before Trump leaves office, and it remains unclear whether President-elect Biden will continue enforcing Trump’s bans on Chinese companies.The New York Stock Exchange announced late Monday it no longer plans to delist three Chinese companies.Why it matters: The NYSE said last Thursday it would suspend trading action from Jan. 7 for China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom Hong Kong following a Trump executive order that imposed restrictions on firms the U.S. identified as being affiliated with the Chinese military.Sign up for Mike Allen’s daily Axios AM and PM newsletters to get smarter, faster on the news that matters.

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/AxiosChina has constructed a vast string of factories inside the walls of Xinjiang mass internment camps, and Chinese authorities are forcing thousands of Muslim minorities to work in cotton fields, according to two recent investigations.Why it matters: Xinjiang products are deeply integrated into lucrative supply chains around the world. The Chinese Communist Party's official embrace of coerced labor will force Western governments and institutions to choose between pleasing business leaders or enforcing universal human rights values.Details: In the past three...

public

Bethany is the China reporter at Axios. She is the author of the weekly Axios China newsletter, and she covers Beijing's influence and intentions.

https://www.axios.com/authors/baebrahimian

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

Smart Brevity worthy of people's time, attention and trust. Subscribe to our newsletters: https://bit.ly/3hMCmVn

The scope of China's use of forced labor in Xinjiang is bigger than we knew

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS