China thwarts accurate audits of Xinjiang supply chains, US lawmakers hear
- Forced Uygur labour is impossible to properly document because of Beijing’s intentional moves, official tells the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
- Biden administration message to US businesses: ‘Since you cannot do due diligence in Xinjiang or with Xinjiang workers, then you cannot responsibly operate there’
Conducting due diligence in Xinjiang supply chains over the use of forced Uygur labour is “impossible” under the conditions set by the Chinese government, and the “only responsible thing to do is not to operate” there, an official of US President Joe Biden’s administration told a congressional panel on Tuesday.
Thea Lee, the deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the US Department of Labour, told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that ethnic minorities in Xinjiang “live in fear”.
Despite legislative efforts to prevent companies from profiting from suspected forced labour in the region, auditing supply chains has become an increasingly difficult task.
In 2020, the US Congress passed the Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act, which imposes strict requirements on American companies to prove that their supply chains in China are free of forced labour involving Uygurs, a Muslim ethnic minority living mainly in Xinjiang province.
The US and human rights groups have pointed to satellite imagery, leaked government documents and eyewitness accounts as evidence that more than 1 million Uygurs have been subjected to mass detention, political indoctrination and forced labour to make cheap goods. Beijing denies the claims.