Senate approves China forced labor import ban

The bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will assume all products from China’s Xinjiang Province are produced with forced labor unless proven otherwise. The province is a strong mining, industrial, and agricultural region. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden supports the bill and expects to sign it soon. The Commerce Department also blacklisted China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 biotechnology institutes on Thursday to prevent American companies from selling products to entities whose technologies are suppressing the Uyghur ethnic minority.

What is happening in Xinjiang? The U.S. says China is committing genocide in its treatment of Uyghurs, most of whom are being held in camps in Xinjiang. China denies any abuses are taking place. An independent U.K. tribunal ruled last week that China is carrying out genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture of ethnic minorities.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Olympics over China’s treatment of Uyghurs.