Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

US sanctions 11 Chinese firms over Uighur rights violations

-

The US Commerce Department on Monday announced it has blacklisted 11 Chinese businesses for involvement in human rights violations against the Uighur minority, cutting off the firms' access to American goods.

Washington, together with other western nations and rights groups, has accused Beijing of interning at least a million Muslims from the Uighur ethnic group in the western Xinjiang region.

In a statement, the Commerce Department said the 11 sanctioned companies are "implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of the People's Republic of China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, involuntary collection of biometric data, and genetic analyses."

Commerce sanctioned nine companies -- Changji Esquel Textile, Hefei Bitland Information Technology, Hefei Meiling, Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories, Hetian Taida Apparel, KTK Group, Nanjing Synergy Textiles, Nanchang O-Film Tech and Tanyuan Technology -- for involvement in forced labor.

Xinjiang Silk Road and Beijing Liuhe were both sanctioned for "conducting genetic analyses used to further the repression" of Uighurs, Commerce said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month called China's treatment of Uighurs "the stain of the century."

But Beijing denies an wrongdoing, saying Uighurs are attending vocational training centers.

The US Commerce Department on Monday announced it has blacklisted 11 Chinese businesses for involvement in human rights violations against the Uighur minority, cutting off the firms’ access to American goods.

Washington, together with other western nations and rights groups, has accused Beijing of interning at least a million Muslims from the Uighur ethnic group in the western Xinjiang region.

In a statement, the Commerce Department said the 11 sanctioned companies are “implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, involuntary collection of biometric data, and genetic analyses.”

Commerce sanctioned nine companies — Changji Esquel Textile, Hefei Bitland Information Technology, Hefei Meiling, Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories, Hetian Taida Apparel, KTK Group, Nanjing Synergy Textiles, Nanchang O-Film Tech and Tanyuan Technology — for involvement in forced labor.

Xinjiang Silk Road and Beijing Liuhe were both sanctioned for “conducting genetic analyses used to further the repression” of Uighurs, Commerce said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month called China’s treatment of Uighurs “the stain of the century.”

But Beijing denies an wrongdoing, saying Uighurs are attending vocational training centers.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Life

The “No Buy 2025” challenge has garnered thousands of posts on TikTok with many people sharing their personal rules for buying less.

Tech & Science

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has said it will lay an undersea cable stretching across five continents to carry data.

Business

The old Roman saying holds true: “If you’d kept your mouth shut, we’d have thought you were clever.”

Business

Musk has promoted Grok 3 as "scary smart," with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor.