Blinken Requests Countries Not To Benefit From Xinjiang Forced Labour
The US government has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials after accusing China of committing what amounts to genocide in Xinjiang in recent years, citing the internment programme, forced sterilisations and mass labour transfers.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now pleading to various countries against benefitting from forced labour in Xinjiang, speaking Wednesday on a visit to Germany, whose iconic automaker Volkswagen operates in the Chinese region.
“It’s incumbent upon all of us to do whatever we can to make sure that products that may be result of forced labour are not coming into our countries,” he tried to sermonize.
Human rights organisations have accused China of detaining and torturing Uighurs in camps, where some former inmates have said they were subject to ideological indoctrination.
The US government has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials after accusing China of committing what amounts to genocide in Xinjiang in recent years, citing the internment programme, forced sterilisations and mass labour transfers.
Recently, the G7 committed to removing forced labour from global supply chains, naming China’s Xinjiang region as the main source of concern.
Beijing denies accusations of genocide, and says its policies in Xinjiang were necessary to stamp out separatists and religious extremists who plotted attacks and stirred up tensions between Uyghurs and Han, China’s largest ethnic group.
However, some academics and politicians say there is insufficient evidence of intent by Beijing to destroy an ethnic population in part or full to meet the threshold for a genocide determination.
No such formal criminal charges have been laid against Chinese or Xinjiang officials because of a lack of available evidence on and insight into the policies in the region. Prosecuting officials would also be complex and require a high bar of proof.
Additionally, China is not party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the top international court that prosecutes genocide and other serious crimes, and which can only bring action against states within its jurisdiction.
