Joe Biden has signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law, banning imports of items manufactured in Xinjiang, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the White House has announced.
The signing of the UFLPA is primarily a concerted effort by the United States to put a stop to the persecution of Muslim-minority Uyghurs in China by Beijing, which the United States has labeled as genocidal.
The legislation’s passage in Congress in December took place following robust bipartisan backing.
The UFLPA prohibits the importation of items manufactured entirely or partly in Xinjiang. Such products are deemed to be the output of forced labor.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Biden’s approval of the law underscored the “United States’ commitment to combatting forced labor, including in the context of the ongoing genocide in Xinjiang.”
“The State Department is committed to working with Congress and our interagency partners to continue addressing forced labor in Xinjiang and to strengthen international action against this egregious violation of human rights,” Blinken said in a statement.
China has denied claims of abuse in Xinjiang, which is also a key cotton production region.
“(The act) ignores the truth and maliciously slanders the human rights situation in Xinjiang,” according to the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
“This is a severe violation of international law and norms of international relations, and a gross interference in China’s internal affairs. China strongly condemns and firmly rejects it,” stated Liu Pengyu, the Chinese embassy spokesman.
