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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

3 more Chinese companies added to US import ban over Uygur forced labour concerns

  • Cofco Sugar, Jingweida Technology and Xinya New Materials are newest names on Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act blacklist, bringing total tally to 30
  • US Department of Homeland Security accuses each company of recruiting, transferring and exploiting persecuted minorities

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The Chinese flag is seen behind razor wire at a housing compound in Yangisar in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in June 2019. Photo: AFP
Igor Patrickin Washington
The US Department of Homeland Security on Friday announced it has added three more companies allegedly involved in forced labour and human rights abuses to a list of firms sanctioned under the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act.

The newly named companies – Cofco Sugar, Jingweida Technology and Xinya New Materials – are based in different regions of China, but each has been accused by the department of recruiting, transferring and exploiting persecuted minorities.

Officials from Xinjiang-based Cofco Sugar visited several homes of persecuted minorities in a village to recruit Uygurs to work at one of its plants, according to the department.

Jingweida Technology, specialising in the manufacture of electrical converters, power supplies, capacitors and chargers for electric batteries, is alleged to have engaged in poverty alleviation programmes believed to be part of an overall forced labour strategy.

Anhui-based textile company Xinya New Materials is also said to be working “with an established government-sponsored labour transfer programme”.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in a statement said the department had prioritised enforcement of the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act since US President Joe Biden signed it into law.
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