REPORT: China Likely Using Slave Labor to Build Your Favorite Consumer Goods

Jose Nino   |  

Mar 3, 2020

On March 1, 2020, Twitter user Nathan Attrill tweeted about the Chinese government’s forced transfer of Uyghurs and ethnic minorities to factories building up goods that are casually consumed in the West.

He linked to a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) titled “Uyghurs for Sale.”

In a report titled “Uyghurs for Sale”, Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, Danielle Cave, Dr James Leibold, Kelsey Munro, & Nathan Ruser detailed how the Chinese government “has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country.” The report contends that these conditions “strongly suggest forced labour” with Uyghurs working “in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen.”

From 2017 to 2019, more than 80,000 Uyghurs were forced out of Xinjiang to work in factories throughout China and good portion of them were sent straight to detention camps. However, the ASPI report contends that “The estimated figure is conservative and the actual figure is likely to be far higher.” Similarly, the authors noted that “In factories far away from home, they typically live in segregated dormitories,³ undergo organised Mandarin and ideological training outside working hours,⁴ are subject to constant surveillance, and are forbidden from participating in religious observances.⁵”

ASPI added that “small number of brands including Abercrombie & Fitch advised they have instructed their vendors to terminate their relationships with these suppliers in 2020. Others, including Adidas, Bosch and Panasonic, said they had no direct contractual relationships with the suppliers implicated in the labour schemes, but no brands were able to rule out a link further down their supply chain.”

Known China critic Gordon Chang commented “US Customs should impound all products from #China until the importer can prove that those goods were not made with slave or forced labor. Obviously, the current system is not working. I do not want my running shoes to be a crime against humanity. #Nike #Uighurs #EastTurkistan”

Although China has enthralled many international observers, it is among the most authoritarian countries in the globe,

It has no right to bear arms, freedom of speech, or freedom of religion.

Americans with a conscious should think twice about doing business with Chinese companies that have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.