Original title: China criticizes the U.S. for concocting Xinjiang-related lies, the media focuses on the dilemma of U.S. companies
[环球时报驻美国特约记者 林 日 环球时报记者 范凌志 刘 欣 辛 斌]US President Biden signed the so-called “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” on the 23rd local time. The bill prohibits the import of Xinjiang products unless the company can prove that the product is not related to “forced labor.” In response, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement immediately, criticizing the case for ignoring the truth and maliciously slandering the human rights situation in Xinjiang, China. The spokesperson said that the Chinese side expressed strong indignation and resolute opposition, and “will make further responses depending on the development of the situation.” The so-called “forced labor” and other topics have been hyped in Washington for a long time. Prior to this, the US government has adopted a series of measures including sanctions on Chinese officials, companies and imposing trade restrictions. The latest bill is considered the most drastic move. The link between imported products and “forced labor” is presumed guilty. Washington’s China policy has increasingly no bottom line, but a fact that cannot be ignored is that the Chinese and American economies are intertwined, and the United States will often hurt itself if it wants to harm China. The New York Times commented that the bill highlights the subtleties of US-China relations. With the US economy dependent on Chinese factories, policymakers must find ways to deal with “anti-democratic behavior.” In the past two days, the US semiconductor company Intel’s “Xinjiang-related letters” controversy continued to ferment, and the retail giant Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club was also exploded as “suspected to remove all Xinjiang products”. The company is at a loss.
“China will respond further depending on the development of the situation”
“The so-called’forced labor’ and’genocide’ in Xinjiang are completely vicious lies concocted by anti-China forces. Xinjiang’s economic development and social stability are universally recognized, and people of all ethnic groups live and work in peace and contentment.” According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on the 24th, China A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the United States repeatedly used Xinjiang-related issues to spread rumors, in essence, engaging in political manipulation and economic bullying under the guise of human rights, in an attempt to undermine the prosperity and stability of Xinjiang and contain China’s development. “We urge the US to immediately correct its mistakes and stop using Xinjiang-related issues to spread lies, interfere in China’s internal affairs, and contain China’s development. China will respond further depending on the development of the situation.”
According to Reuters, US President Biden signed a law on Thursday banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region. Biden posted on Twitter that day that he signed the bill, “The United States will continue to use all tools we can use to ensure that there are no forced labor products from Xinjiang and other parts of China in the supply chain.” The relevant ban will be in place. 180 days after the bill takes effect, it will be implemented in June next year at the latest.
When the White House website notified Biden of signing the bill, it thanked several people: House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Representative Jim McGovern (Democrat) and Chris Smith (Republican) ), Senators Jeff Merkley (Democrat) and Rubio (Republican). Both Rubio and Merkley are bill sponsors. The former claims that this is the “most important and influential action” taken by the United States so far to hold China accountable, while the latter said it is necessary to “send a resounding and clear objection.” Information on’genocide’ and’forced labor'”.
This bill has been in the making for a long time. After the compromised version of the Senate and the House of Representatives was passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on the 14th of this month, it also received unanimous support in the Senate on the 16th. Some US media therefore claimed that the bill was passed easily with a rare bipartisan consensus, and Biden signed a bill representing both parties.
A core concept contained in the bill is the “rebuttable presumption” system, which presupposes that all products from Xinjiang are involved in “forced labor” unless certified by the US government. The exception clause of the Act states that “(the enterprise must) have clear and convincing evidence that the goods, products, articles or commodities are not wholly or partly exploited, produced or manufactured by forced labor.” Within 30 days, submit a report to the Congress Committee and provide the report to the public to illustrate the evidence.”
According to reports, in addition to the immediate response from the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Embassy in the United States also criticized the bill for “ignoring the truth and maliciously slandering the human rights situation in Xinjiang”. Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that the US’s actions seriously violated international law and the basic norms of international relations, and were gross interference in China’s internal affairs.
U.S. corporate upset
According to Reuters, the bill pays special attention to three Xinjiang products: cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon. Xinjiang is not only an important cotton producing area in the world, but also an important producing area of raw materials for solar panels. It is estimated that 20% of the clothing imported by the United States each year contains cotton from Xinjiang.
Li Ye, a senior partner of Jintiancheng Law Firm, who has been concerned about international trade law and WTO legal affairs all year round, told the Global Times reporter that this bill is the most drastic measure ever taken by the United States under the pretext of so-called “forced labor.” “For’forced labor’, the United States has legislation for a long time, but the real law enforcement activities are very few.” Li Ye said that this time the burden of proof was turned over to the importer, and the US customs’ enforcement threshold was greatly reduced. In addition, the bill greatly expands the scope of sanctions.
For many American companies, this bill makes them feel uneasy. Earlier this month, “Washington Post” columnist Luo Jin wrote that the slow progress of relevant legislation was due to lobbying by large American companies and delays by Democrats. “Officials in the Biden administration have been quietly telling lawmakers to slow down.” Sources confirmed that in an October phone call between Deputy Secretary of State Sherman and Jeff Merkley, Sherman stated that the government tends to adopt more targeted and deliberate methods to determine which products are the result of “forced labor.” . She also said that getting the support of allies is the key, and it is more effective than unilateral action.
“Despite the lobbying of American companies, Congress voted.” Agence France-Presse said on the 24th that many American companies rely heavily on Chinese suppliers, and they have faced large-scale disruptions due to the interference caused by the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The relevant bills and the US attacks on certain economic interests in China have caused trouble for some companies, such as the semiconductor giant Intel.
On the 23rd, Intel apologized for its previously issued letter asking suppliers to avoid purchasing products or services from Xinjiang. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is the latest Western company caught in a dilemma between Washington and Beijing. From 2018 to 2020, China is Intel’s largest market in terms of revenue. On the 24th, Wal-Mart’s high-end membership store, Sam’s Club, (continued from the first version), was ranked first on Weibo’s hot search list due to “suspected removal of all Xinjiang products”.
In fact, there are concerns within Washington. According to the New York Times, some members of the Biden administration said during closed-door discussions that the scope of the bill may overwhelm the regulators, leading to further disruptions in the supply chain when inflation rises to a high in nearly 40 years. Some officials also worry that, given China’s dominant position in the production of solar panels and components, the strict ban may jeopardize the government’s goal of addressing climate change.
Washington should look in the mirror first
According to a report on the U.S. “Politics” website, some representatives of American business groups expressed dissatisfaction with the traditional pro-business Republican lawmakers who took the lead in passing the bill. Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection trade lawyer Mojica said that the agency’s experience shows that the compliance standards of the new law are “nearly impossible” to meet. US SMEs will be severely affected, as they lack the internal expertise to map complex overseas supply chains. Eugene Lanney, President of the American Association of Importers and Exporters, said, “The challenge lies in the supply chain network consisting of four, five, six, seven, and eight levels of suppliers…”
“Taking the previous photovoltaic industry as an example, I have seen with my own eyes how hard my customers are to’compliance’.” Li Ye said that before that, the American Photovoltaic Association released a “Solar Supply Chain Traceability Agreement 1.0”, telling How can companies prove that photovoltaic modules shipped to the United States do not contain silicon materials from Xinjiang? This has changed the entire industry standard. Four or five links go through different factories. To what extent do they have to be traced back in the end?”
However, the bill was passed quickly. Many scholars interviewed by the Global Times reporter on the 24th said that they were not surprised. Some scholars say that if it is a purely domestic bill, because it involves too many specific interests, it will often gossip. However, on the topic of containing China’s development and smearing China, the two parties in the United States are generally more similar.
The accusation of China’s Luozhi, Washington’s approach is not new and not very convincing. In the tweet that Biden announced the signing of the relevant bill, some netizens wrote: “Hey, man, have you ever been to Xinjiang? The quality of life there is much better than that of ordinary Americans.” Some netizens said: “Should China should Sanction us for the terrible conditions of our Indian reservations?” “It is a shame not to sign a bill prohibiting forced labor in American prisons.”
About a week later, the United States will usher in “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.” Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice disclosed that 24 people in Georgia were prosecuted for “personal smuggling” and “forced labor.” In the name of organizing Central American immigrants to work on American farms, the person involved forced more than 100 immigrants to work under extremely harsh conditions, resulting in at least two deaths and one person being repeatedly raped. US prosecutors called it “a typical case of modern slavery in the United States.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg of the huge human trafficking industry and forced labor in the United States. According to statistics from the US public welfare organization “Polaris”, from the end of 2007 to 2019, the organization reported a total of 63,380 human trafficking cases, involving 134,332 victims. All states in the United States and Washington, DC have reported cases of forced labor and human trafficking.
As the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the United States has its own bad reputation, and accusing China of slandering China on the human rights issue is a slander in the world. The United States is the hardest hit area for human trafficking and forced labor. The crimes against humanity committed against Native Indians in the history of the United States have long constituted a de facto “genocide.” “The two hats of’forced labor’ and’genocide’ are the most suitable for the United States to keep for itself.”
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