Dominic Raab, the British Foreign Secretary, stated today that Britain will introduce new rules for companies to prevent goods from the Chinese Xinjiang region from entering the supply chain, tightening London's response to allegations of forced labor.
Raab informed Parliament that there is substantial and "appalling" evidence of forced labor among Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, after the United Nations estimated that at least one million of them and other minorities are detained in internment camps. He continued by saying that Britain wants to ensure that it is free from any products linked to Xinjiang, referencing widely circulated reports of internment camps housing over a million Uyghurs, forced labor, and the coerced sterilization of Uyghur women. Raab concluded his statement by saying that Britain would implement stricter guidelines regarding supply sources, tighten modern slavery laws to include financial penalties, prohibit awarding government contracts to companies that do not comply with procurement rules, and launch a review of export controls specifically related to Xinjiang.
