China said Wednesday that US allegation of “forced labor” in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is nothing but an “enormous lie propagated by anti-China elements to smear China.” “It is the very opposite of the fact that the labor rights of people of all ethnic backgrounds in Xinjiang are effectively protected,” an unnamed spokesperson at the Foreign Ministry issued a statement.
The statement came following reports that the US added more Chinese companies to an entity list for alleged “forced labor” on August 1.
The US enforcement of the so-called “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” on the basis of such a lie is detrimental to international trade rules and the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and the move to blacklist Chinese entities and going after more Chinese companies is aimed at undermining Xinjiang’s prosperity and stability and containing China’s development, the spokesperson said.
“We condemn and reject this and will take strong measures to firmly safeguard Chinese companies’ lawful rights and interests,” the statement added.
Source: Kuwait News Agency