Rethink about relations with China who has enslaved Uyghurs, Trump administration berates US companies

Washington: – The ruling communist government in China is using Uyghurs for slave labour, and there are Chinese Companies involved in this. The US State Department has warned that the US companies getting their products manufactured from China should consider this and rethink about their relationship with the Chinese companies and government. A few days ago, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had released a statement issuing special instructions to the US companies. This new warning issued by the Trump administration after that is considered to be a part of the campaign to target the Chinese government over the Uyghur issue.

Keith Krach, the secretary in the state department, berated the US companies over the Uyghur issue during an interview given to a news channel. Secretary Krach warned that the Chinese atrocities on the Uyghurs is the biggest and the most serious incidence of human rights violation, since the second world war. Many Chinese companies are a part of these activities of the Chinese government. The US companies should rethink about their interests in the Chinese companies considering this fact. They should take every step keeping in mind, the instructions issued, a few days back by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He also mentioned that 83 US companies have relationships with these Chinese companies using Uyghurs as slave labour.

The warning issued by the Trump administration to US companies has the background of a report published by an Australian study group. The study group Australian Strategic Policy Institute published a sensational report named ‘Uyghurs For Sale’. The report exposed that the Uyghurs are being used for slave labour in many Chinese provinces, including the Xinjiang province. The report also claimed that the US companies were getting their products manufactured from these Chinese companies, using Uyghurs as slave labour.

The list of companies, with this Chinese connection, includes big US corporates like Apple, Amazon, Adidas, Nike, Dell and Cisco. Although a few of these corporates have replied to the allegations made in the Australian report, many of the corporates have avoided giving an explanation. The Chinese media had claimed that there is no exploitation of the Uyghurs, and they are participating in their own will. Against this background, the warning issued by the US State Department becomes essential.

Since the last few months, President Trump and his administration have started taking efforts to corner the Chinese government on various issues, including trade and human rights. The Trump administration has taken some critical decisions against the atrocities meted out to the Uyghurs. Only last month, President Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Act. The act which is related to the Uyghurs has a provision for sanctions against the Chinese officials.

All the Chinese officials involved in the action against the Uyghurs will be targeted using this act. Their assets in the United States will be frozen, and they will not be allowed to enter the United States. The act includes Chen Quanguo, the Chief of the Xinjiang province of China. Chen Quanguo is a member of the all-powerful Politburo of the communist party of China. The reins of the action against the Uyghurs were in the hands of Chen, and he is accused of blatant violation of human rights.

Since the last few years, China has been consistently showering atrocities on the Uyghurs and cognisance of these atrocities has been taken even on the international level. One of the UN reports published in 2018 made a shocking revelation that China has detained more than 1.1 million Uyghurs in torture camps. Following the report, western countries started targeting China over the Uyghur issue, and the United States leads the assault. The warning issued to the US companies also is the part of the same aggressive initiative.