US blocks imports of cotton and textiles from Xinjiang

US Customs will block certain products from Xinjiang because Washington believes they were made in the Chinese autonomous region with the help of slave labour. This is a “modern form of slavery,” said the Ministry of Homeland Security on Monday. The US Government accused China of curtailing human and civil liberties and using forced labour to suppress the Uyghur Muslim minority living in the northwestern province.

The import ban affects cotton, textile, hair and computer products from four manufacturers, as well as goods that were produced in a certain warehouse. According to the Chinese representation, the camp is a training centre, whereas the US government regards it as an internment camp for the political re-education of Uyghurs.

The estimated ten million Uighurs in China are ethnically related to Turks and feel oppressed by the ruling Han Chinese. After taking power in Beijing in 1949, the communists incorporated what was formerly East Turkestan into China. Beijing accused Uighur groups of separatism and terrorism. The US Government estimated the number of members of Muslim minorities imprisoned in re-education camps at more than one million at times. China spoke of vocational training institutions that are attended voluntarily. (dpa)

Image: Manfred Rose / pixelio.de

This article was previously published on FashionUnited.de. Translation and editing: Andrea Byrne