US blocks imports of cotton and textiles from Xinjiang

US Customs will block certain goods from Xinjiang because Washington believes they were made in the Chinese autonomous location with the aid of slave labour. This is a “modern sort of slavery,” explained the Ministry of Homeland Protection on Monday. The US Authorities accused China of curtailing individual and civil liberties and employing pressured labour to suppress the Uyghur Muslim minority residing in the northwestern province.

The import ban influences cotton, textile, hair and computer products from four makers, and also goods that were stated in a certain warehouse. In line with the Chinese representation, the camp is normally a training centre, whereas the US federal government regards it as an internment camp for the political re-education of Uyghurs.

The estimated ten million Uighurs in China are ethnically linked to Turks and feel oppressed by the ruling Han Chinese. After taking power in Beijing in 1949, the communists incorporated that which was formerly East Turkestan into China. Beijing accused Uighur sets of separatism and terrorism. The US Government estimated the quantity of customers of Muslim minorities imprisoned in re-education camps at multiple million sometimes. China spoke of vocational training organizations that will be attended voluntarily. (dpa)