A few hours prior, Chinese drone maker DJI was slapped with trading sanctions for its alleged role in the human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.
The US Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a Bill banning the import of all goods, including technology, produced in the Chinese region of Xinjiang to penalise the Chinese government for its heinous treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. The Bill, titled Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, explains that it was made specifically to blast the Chinese government for the international human rights violations it has committed against those minority groups. It accuses China of arbitrarily detaining 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in mass internment camps and subjecting them to forced labour, torture, political indoctrination, and other severe human rights abuses. China has faced growing condemnation for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other Muslim minorities, with numerous reports stating that Chinese authorities have been tracking the movements of these people. There have also been reports of other human rights abuses, such as the installation of spyware on the phones of Uyghur Muslims and placing Uyghur Muslims into “re-education” camps. In addition to the ban, the Bill’s passage will see the US coordinate with Canada and Mexico to prohibit the importation of goods made in the Xinjiang region.
