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The Chinese province of Xinjiang is the country's leading producer of cotton. The province accounts for about one fifth of the world’s cotton production.
Overview
Xinjiang accounts for about one fifth of the world’s cotton production.
Forced labor
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According to Quartz, the Xinjiang region is described as a "'cotton gulag' where prison labor is present in all steps of the cotton supply chain..."
A 2020 report from US government anti-Communist think tank, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities were being forced to cultivate cotton in Xinjiang.
Reactions
In reaction to the proposed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2020 to impose sanctions on "any foreign person who 'knowingly engages'" and require firms to disclose their dealings with Xinjiang, the president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association said that blanket import bans on cotton or other products from Xinjiang from such legislation would "wreak havoc" on legitimate supply chains in the apparel industry because Xinjiang cotton exports are often intermingled with cotton from other countries and there is no available origin-tracing technology for cotton fibers. On September 22, 2020, the US Chamber of Commerce issued a letter stating that the act "would prove ineffective and may hinder efforts to prevent human rights abuses." Major companies with supply chain ties to Xinjiang, including Apple Inc., Nike, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company, have lobbied Congress to weaken the legislation and amend its provisions.
Decisions by various Western companies to stop buying Xinjiang cotton have led more than 40 Chinese celebrities, including Eddie Peng, Eason Chan, Uyhgur actress Dilraba Dilmurat, Huang Xuan, Victoria Song, and Zhou Dongyu, to sever ties with those companies.
In 2021 the US Government banned the import of any cotton produced in Xinjiang. This ban was part of a US pressure campaign aimed at ending the oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
References
- Davidson, Helen. "Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Bain, Marc. "Clothing made by Chinese forced labor is likely being sold in the US". Quartz. Archived from the original on 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
- Sudworth, John. "China's 'tainted' cotton". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- David Brunnstrom (11 March 2020). "U.S. lawmakers seek to tighten ban on forced-labor goods from China's Xinjiang". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- Lawder, David (September 17, 2020). "US ban on China's Xinjiang cotton 'would wreak havoc', leading apparel group says". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
- Neil L. Bradley (22 September 2020). "U.S. Chamber Letter on H.R. 6210, the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," and H.R. 6270, the "Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act of 2020"". US Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- Swanson, Ana (2020-11-29). "Nike and Coca-Cola Lobby Against Xinjiang Forced Labor Bill". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
- Yan, Lim Ruey (26 March 2021). "Over 40 celebrities end ties with fashion companies over Xinjiang cotton allegations". Straits Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Bain, Marc. "The US is intensifying its crackdown on forced labor in China's Xinjiang region". qz.com. Quartz. Retrieved 3 May 2021.