Tag: Xinjiang

H&M forced to shut 20 stores in China over remarks on Xinjiang cotton: Report
4Apr By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

H&M forced to shut 20 stores in China over remarks on Xinjiang cotton: Report

Soon after giving out a statement on forced labour in Xinjiang, Swedish fashion retailer H&M was forced to close 20 stores in China.Recently, several companies including H&M and Nike are facing pressure after they said that they were concerned about allegations that forced labour has been used to produce cotton in Xinjiang.The ruling Communist Party lashed out at H&M, Nike and other shoe and clothing brands last week after the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed travel and financial sanctions on officials accused of abuses in Xinjiang in China’s northwest.H&M has shut down about 20 of its 500 outlets in the communist country. Some of the closures might have been the result of Chinese landlords forcing out the shops, while local consumers vowed to b...
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Biden administration declares Chinese actions in Xinjiang as ‘genocide’
1Apr By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Biden administration declares Chinese actions in Xinjiang as ‘genocide’

US President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday declared Chinese actions against the Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang as ‘genocide’.The US Department of State, in a 2020 report on Human rights practices, said: “Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang”.Chinese authorities’ genocide in Xinjiang was first officially declared by Michael Pompeo during the waning days of the Donald Trump administration. Now, Antony Blinken affirmed Pompeo’s assessment during his confirmation hearing, but the word’s inclusion into Tuesday’s report formalizes the outlook as an official U.S. government assessment.The State Department said the crime inc...
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China used Twitter, Facebook more than ever for Xinjiang Propaganda in 2020: Research
1Apr By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

China used Twitter, Facebook more than ever for Xinjiang Propaganda in 2020: Research

A new research by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has said that the Chinese government’s propaganda activity on Twitter and Facebook over its policies toward ethnic minorities in Xinjiang reached an all-time high in 2020, as Beijing sought to portray its approach, including use of widespread internment camps, as beneficial to the remote northwestern region.According to the research, the frequency of tweets about Xinjiang from Chinese state media and diplomatic Twitter accounts increased to an average of nearly 500 tweets per month in 2020, up from about 280 per month in 2019.“Since early 2020, there’s been a stark increase in the Chinese Government and state media’s use of US social media networks to push alternative narratives and disinformation about the situation in Xinjiang. ...
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Chinese consul-general calls Canada ‘running dog’ of US
29Mar By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

Chinese consul-general calls Canada ‘running dog’ of US

Alleging that the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ruined the friendly ties between China and Canada, Li Yang, the Chinese Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, has said that Trudeau has turned Canada into a “running dog of the United States”.“Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US. Spendthrift!!!” Li Yang tweeted on Sunday.His remark comes a day after China had announced sanctions against two American religious-rights officials and a Canadian MP in response to western countries’ sanctions on Beijing over the issue of human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.However, the United States condemned China’s sanctions and said that Beijing’s attempt to silence criticism of human r...
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US to hold China accountable for human rights abuses: US Speaker
24Mar By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

US to hold China accountable for human rights abuses: US Speaker

The United States Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday lauded the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on China and said that Washington will hold Beijing accountable for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as well as against people in Tibet and Hong Kong“The Biden administration’s coordinated sanctions on China are a strong and resounding step to hold China accountable for its barbaric atrocities against the Uyghur people,” Pelosi said in a statement.“America, together with our allies, will continue to hold Beijing accountable for its campaign of human rights abuses, including those targeting the Tibetan people, people of Hong Kong and journalists, human rights lawyers and advocates on the mainland,” she added.Pelosi said that the US Congress will further its actions w...
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EU approves sanctions on Chinese officials over rights abuses in Xinjiang: Report
18Mar By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

EU approves sanctions on Chinese officials over rights abuses in Xinjiang: Report

Increasing China’s troubles, European Union (EU) officials have approved sanctions on Chinese officials, who are accused of human rights violations in the Xinjiang province.The penalties, which were approved at preparatory meetings for next week’s Foreign Affairs Council, will be formally adopted at a meeting of the bloc’s top diplomats on Monday.These will be the first sanctions against Beijing since an EU arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The embargo is still in place.Across the world, China has been rebuked for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.Meanwhile, Beijing has vehemently d...
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US has obligation to address genocide in Xinjiang by China: Nancy Pelosi
5Mar By Mike TrudellNo Comments
World

US has obligation to address genocide in Xinjiang by China: Nancy Pelosi

The United States Speaker Nancy Pelosi has expressed solidarity with the Uyghur community amid the ongoing human rights abuse in China and affirmed her view that the United States has an “obligation to address the genocide”.“If we don’t speak out clearly for human rights in China because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights any place in the world,” she said after a meeting through video conference with the representatives of Campaign for Uyghurs.During the meeting, held on March 1, the Campaign for Uyghurs informed the Speaker about the updates and legislative priorities relating to stopping the Uyghur genocide, according to an official statement.Dr Rishat Abbas, Senior Advisor to CFU and the World Uyghur Congress, said, “Uyghurs are facing unp...
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US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang
20Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang

In a step which will lead to increased tensions between the US and China, the US House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour.“We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression,” said Representative Jim McGovern.According to McGovern, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United State...
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‘Let’s each manage our own business’: Top Chinese diplomat on US’ remarks on human rights abuses
7Feb By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

‘Let’s each manage our own business’: Top Chinese diplomat on US’ remarks on human rights abuses

In a sharp response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling out Beijing for its gross human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the top foreign policy aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Yang Jiechi has said “let’s each manage our own business.”Yang told Blinken during their Friday call that the US should “correct recent mistakes, and work with China to promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations by upholding the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.Yang said that both sides should respect the other’s core interests, as well as political systems and developmental paths of their own choosing, according to the statement.“Each side should focus ...
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UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China
17Jan By Mike TrudellNo Comments
China, World

UK must not do trade deals with rights abusers, says foreign minister hinting at China

Hinting at China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang, United Kingdom’s foreign minister Dominic Raab has said that Britain should not engage in free trade with countries that abuse human rights.Last week, Raab said Britain would introduce new rules for its companies to try to prevent goods linked to China’s Xinjiang region entering their supply chains.Some British lawmakers want to go further and are due to consider proposals passed in the upper house of parliament that would give courts the power to stop free-trade agreements with countries if they consider them to have committed genocide.“The bar is being set incredibly high,” Raab said on Sunday. “I mean, frankly, we shouldn’t be engaged in free-trade negotiations with countries abusing human rights well below the level of genocide.”H...
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