President Joe Biden signed into law new sanctions and a ban on imports from China’s Xinjiang region on Thursday, as the U.S. continues to pressure China on human rights abuses.

The White House released a statement announcing the bipartisan legislation becoming law and thanked Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as well as its sponsors in both chambers: Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

China’s brutal treatment and mass confinement of China’s Uyghur Muslim minority has sparked international outrage and resulted in multiple countries, including the U.S., announcing a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

The law bans the import of any goods from the region over concerns of forced labor by the Chinese government in camps. China has defended the internment camps, calling them “re-education” facilities. The law also targets individuals “responsible for forced labor” in the region for new sanctions.

Some U.S. companies like Nike and Coca-Cola lobbied against earlier versions of the legislation banning imports over concerns the bill could impact their production facilities in China.

“China firmly opposes the interference by the U.S. Congress in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang-related issues. By cooking up lies and making troubles on such issues, some U.S. politicians are seeking to contain China and hold back China’s development through political manipulation and economic bullying in the name of human rights,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said in a press conference last week.

In November, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum warned in a report that China “may be committing genocide.”

The post Biden Signs Bill Banning Goods Made by Uyghur Forced Labor China’s Xinjiang Region first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/3H2KDQe