Uyghurs from the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) hold a rally to mark the 71st anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in front of the White House in Washington, DC on October 1, 2020.
Nicholas Comb | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – The Biden government on Tuesday warned companies with supply chain and investment ties to China’s Xinjiang Province that they could face legal consequences, citing mounting evidence of genocide and other human rights abuses in the country’s northwest region.
The most poignant line from the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory – jointly issued by the Department of State, Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, Labor Law, and the US Trade Representative’s Office – states that “Companies and individuals who stay in supply chains are related to companies and / or investments with Xinjiang there could be a high risk of violating US law. “
The updated advisory reinforces previous warnings to companies by highlighting potential violations of US law if their business is even “indirectly” connected with the Chinese government in Xinjiang.
“The government of the People’s Republic of China continues its horrific attacks in the Uyghur Autonomous Region and elsewhere in China, targeting Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Kyrgyz who are predominantly Muslim, as well as members of other ethnic and religious minorities,” the said State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote in a statement Tuesday.
“These abuses include widespread government-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance, enforced population control and separation of children from families, mass incarcerations and other human rights abuses amid the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity,” he added.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
On Friday, the Biden government blacklisted 14 Chinese companies and other entities for alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang.
