The U.S. Senate passed a bill that will ban China's Xinjiang products in the United States. Reuters reported that the said legislation called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" was passed in the Senate chamber on Wednesday.

The said bill was passed by unanimous consent. However, the legislation would need to pass the House of Representatives before it goes to the White House, where President Joe Biden signs it into law.

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Senate Approves Bill That Will Prohibit Xinjiang Products

Axios noted that the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" was introduced by Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, with Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon.

"Today, Senate is sending a clear message that the United States will not be complicit in the Chinese government's genocide of Uyghur Muslims," Senator Merkley said in a joint statement with Senator Rubio.

The said bill would go beyond the steps the U.S. already took to spare the U.S market in the face of allegations of rights abuses in China, including the existing bans on tomatoes, cotton, and solar products from Xinjiang, China. Merkley noted that Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region were forced into labor, tortured, and even imprisoned.

"No American corporation should profit from these abuses. No American consumers should be inadvertently purchasing products from slave labor," Merkley said.

Meanwhile, Senator Rubio urged the lawmakers to pass on the bill immediately.

"We cannot afford any further delay, and I call on my colleagues on House to promptly send this bill to the president," Senator Rubio noted. Rubio also underscored that they will not turn a "blind eye" to the China Communist Party's crimes against humanity. 

"We will not allow corporations a free pass to profit from those horrific abuses," Rubio added.

As the bill rolled in the chambers of the Congress, Reuters reported that Democratic and Republican aides said that they expected the measure would get strong support in the House of Representatives, arguing that the House passed a similar measure nearly unanimous in the previous year.

U.S. Warns Businesses Linked with Xinjiang to Violate U.S. Law

Recently, the U.S. government issued an advisory warning businesses with supply chains and investment in Xinjiang, China, have a high risk of violating U.S. laws regarding forced labor.

Free Radio Asia noted that the advisory was addressed to businesses, individuals, and other persons such as investors, consultants, labor brokers, and academic institutions. Furthermore, the advisory noted that these stakeholders should be "aware" of the legal risks of their involvement with entities or individuals linked to Xinjiang.

U.S Trade representative Katherine Tai lauded the advisory, saying that the action of the current administration demonstrated the commitment of the U.S. to end the forced labor globally.

An investigation mentioned by Axios revealed that in the past three years, the government of China forced hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang to perform seasonal labor in the cotton fields of the region. Furthermore, workers were reported to fear that they will be sent to detention camps if they do not participate. Axios also noted that these workers are also underpaid.

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This article is owned by Latin Post

Written By: Joshua Summers

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