China accuses US of fabricating fake news of forced labour in Xinjiang
China accused the US on Thursday of fabricating fake news about forced labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang after the Trump administration banned imports of cotton from the region.
Washington issued the ban on cotton produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps late on Wednesday due to concerns about the use of forced labour from detained Uighur Muslims.
Speaking at a daily media briefing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the US practices undermined market principles and would deprive people of jobs.
This is the sixth enforced action by US Customs and Border Protection in response to the China's detention camps.
The Trump administration has also sanctioned Chinese officials for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
DHS Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said during a news conference that "'Made in China is not just a country of origin it is a warning label."
"Those cheap cotton goods you may be buying for family and friends during the season of giving, if coming from China, may have been made by slave labor in some of the most egregious human rights violations existing today."
The targeting of XPCC, which produced 30% of China’s cotton in 2015, follows a Treasury Department ban in July on all dollar transactions with the sprawling business and paramilitary entity.