AMN/ WEB DESK
A bipartisan bill aimed at keeping Chinese goods out of the USA that are made with the forced labour of detained ethnic minorities was passed overwhelmingly yesterday in the House of Representatives, despite some concerns about the potential economic effects.
The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labour of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the USA.
Members of Congress say the measure is needed to press China to stop a campaign that has resulted in the detention of more than one million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups under brutal conditions.
Republicans and Democrats have been vocal in their condemnation of China over the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.