US: Chinese Goods Made by Forced Labor Harder to Detect

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – Major brands are finding it increasingly difficult to detect Chinese goods made from forced labor, according to US officials.

The United States has stepped up the blocking of imports of Chinese goods made in Xinjiang, but the top US anti-human trafficking official said that spotting slave-made goods is becoming increasingly complex.

Ambassador-at-Large John Richmond said reports that forced labor by the Chinese government had spread beyond Xinjiang to other provinces complicated the process of due diligence for global firms.

"It is increasingly difficult for well-intentioned international companies to track exactly which products in their supply chain are made with forced labor," Richmond told a Zoom call with journalists.

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Richmond added that the United States would continue its efforts to connect companies with activists and non-profits to help call attention to abuses such as forced labor in China.

"US companies do not want to unwittingly support forced labor and neither do US consumers," Richmond said.

The Xinjiang region in northwest China is home to a large population of Uighur people, a Muslim minority that has faced mass detention in Chinese government camps.

An Australian think tank earlier this year found that tens of thousands of Uighurs were moved to work in factories in other parts of China.

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