Article Publish Date: 07/31/21
The Uyghurs are the largest minority ethnic group in China's north-western province of Xinjiang
China's Modern Genocide and Why it Affects You!
How many readings start first by directly speaking to the reader!? Today, we are speaking to you, our readers, the consumers, the workers, the managers, leaders, owners, and the ones that have all the buying and change power. You mustn't just skip over this, because it directly affects you and our world.
Throughout the past decade, since 2009 the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has been leading a full national campaign against the population of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, called Uyghurs (pronunciation: WEE-goorz). Intelligence, on the ground, through first-hand eye witness reports, independent journalists, internal Chinese Government publicized documents, ("Earlier, leaked documents known as the China Cables made clear that the camps were intended to be run as high-security prisons, with strict discipline and punishments.") and confessions to the United Nations; has led world governments to conclude that China has been in an act of Genocide against the Uyghur people.
According to Human Rights Organizations and International investigations, since 2017 China has Unjustly detained and imprisoned over one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and members of other ethnic and Muslim minority groups for indefinite periods in internment camps. Victims of these internment camps have testified to torture, rape, forced sterilization, forced labor, and excessively harsh and severe levels of restrictions on freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement. Overcrowding, food and sleep deprivation, physical and psychological abuse, medical neglect, forced ingestion of unidentified drugs, abortions, forced renunciation of religion, forced to eat pork and or drink alcohol, denial of use of their native language, and the forced reeducation and recitement of Chinese Communist Party Propaganda (CCP). Victims have died, either in the internment camps or soon after being released; furthermore, China has been forcibly sending imprisoned victims to other provinces within China and subjecting them to Forced Labor and other abusive labor conditions. Chinas actions have led the world to take notice and bring sanctions, bans, and mandates against China for Human Rights violations, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide. China Denies all Allegations and claimed that the camps are "re-education" camps to target and combat separatism and Islamist militancy.
Satellite images show rapid construction of camps in Xinjiang, like this one near Dabancheng
Who are the Uyghurs?
Uyghur women pick cotton in Xinjiang. Rights groups have voiced concerns about forced labor in the region
The Uyghurs are about 12 million strong mostly Muslim citizens within Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Uyghurs speak a language that is close to Turkish and are culturally and ethnically connected to Central Asian Nations, and make less than half of the population in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang region is an autonomous region, meaning that it has some power of its own to govern, but in reality, the region is subjected to major restrictions by the central government. The Uyghurs declared their independence in the early 20th Century and were brought under the control of the Chinese Communist Government in 1949. Anti-Han (Anti-Native Chinese) separatist sentiment began in the 1990s causing events of violence over the need to have their own State back. In 2009 this took on a boiling point when approximately 200-people were killed in cultural clashes in Xinjiang that the Chinese blamed on the Uyghurs, which in recent years has led to massive security crackdowns. Xinjiang is a very important region to China, comprising mostly of desert and resources for international production. Xinjiang produces approximately a fifth of the world's cotton exports, is abundant in natural oil and gas, produces approximately 80% of the world's silicon and solar panel material (the United States purchased and imported over $156-million of materials from a Chinese company named Hoshine’s over the past two years, that is under scrutiny and bans from Customs and Border Protection for direct links for Xinjiang forced labor.), raw and refined materials, commodities, intermediate goods, byproducts, and recycled materials.
Where does this hit home!?
On July 13th, Six government agencies along with the Biden Administration (This is not a democrat or republican issue, let's leave that political sport for something that's not human slavery) Great Britain, Australia, and a few other small nations agreed to ban all supply chains and products that may have direct or involuntary human slavery labor tied to it, called the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory. (Click to read full Government Advisory) In the United States, The Department of State, Department of The Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Homeland Security, The Office of The United States Trade Representative, and the Department of Labor, came out with a stern directive to all corporate businesses throughout the country and individuals warning them of:
"Businesses, individuals, and other persons, including but not limited to investors, consultants, labor brokers, academic institutions, and research service providers (hereafter “businesses and individuals”) with potential exposure to or connection with operations, supply chains, or laborers from the Xinjiang-region, should be aware of the significant reputational, economic, and legal risks of involvement with entities or individuals in or linked to Xinjiang that engage in human rights abuses, including but not limited to forced labor and intrusive surveillance. Given the severity and extent of these abuses, including widespread, state-sponsored forced labor and intrusive surveillance taking place amid ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, businesses, and individuals that do not exit supply chains, ventures, and/or investments connected to Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating U.S. law. Potential legal risks include violation of statutes criminalizing forced labor including knowingly benefitting from participation in a venture, while knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the venture has engaged in forced labor; sanctions violations if dealing with designated persons; export control violations; and violation of the prohibition of importations of goods produced in whole or in part with forced labor or convict labor."
The House and the Senate are working on a Bill that must be passed called, The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would create a presumptive action "assuming goods manufactured in Xinjiang are made with forced labor and therefore banned under the 1930 Tariff Act unless otherwise certified by U.S. authorities.
"Republican Senator Mark Rubio and Democrat Jeff Merkley introduced this Bill into Legislation in the House. “We will not turn a blind eye to the CCP’s ongoing crimes against humanity, and we will not allow corporations a free pass to profit from those horrific abuses,” Rubio said in a statement.
“No American corporation should profit from these abuses. No American consumers should be inadvertently purchasing products from slave labor,” Merkley said.
Currently, the Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory puts businesses on notice that the six government agencies will be seeking to take all legal and sanction actions against companies and individuals that benefit from China's forced labor. This means that if you are a manager, owner, or executive of your company, you should talk with your leadership or ownership to check and audit your companies supply chains. If you are a consumer, which everyone reading this is, the power to change this worldwide outcome of slavery and forced labor is directly in our hands. Even though we can not physically remove these citizens now turned prisoners and forced workers from their government; we can use our buying power with the companies we patron to inform, pressure, protest, boycott, and influence where they source our products from. Today, the Advisement from the Federal Government affects supply chains for Tomatoes, Cotton, Solar Panels, and Semi-conductors. These sectors are just a start, and they have a very large impact on our international ability to produce renewable energy sources through solar (80% of the international supply chain), and Cotton (85% of Chinas Cotton production and 1/5th of the international supply) affecting over 83 major corporations including, Nike, BMW, Adidas, Gap, H&M, Apple, Fila, Amazon, Ambercrombie & Fitch, North Face, Marks & Spencers, and more. Call your Congressman or women's office, talk with your companies, pay attention to what you're buying and where from. If we all work to learn more, change our habits, the financial and economic reasons for slavery may disappear and the Uyghurs may have a chance to maintain their region, heritage, freedom, and their lives.
EndNotes: This article was written and put together by EcoTech News and Isaiah Dillard. We reviewed over 12 separate articles ranging from different regions to get an unbiased viewpoint to share with you the reader. We have been following the developments of China's crimes against humanity since 2017, our companies pulled all of our international business from China over 3-months ago seeing this coming and will continue to cover this story and international policies, as they affect over 150% of our business supply chain in some sectors. We are devoted to having the best impact on our world and will keep educating others, and ensuring that we audit ourselves first in the best way possible. Note: there is more information to this story and you should continue learning, Do Not Let this sit aimlessly as another thing happening in the world. Our complacency may cause the next Transatlantic Slave Trade or World War incident over racial, religious, and economic indifferences.
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