Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
Today, the U.S. Department of State, along with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is issuing an advisory to caution businesses about the risks of supply chain links to entities that engage in human rights abuses, including forced labor in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China.
Since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ramped up its campaign of systematic repression of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups that includes widespread arbitrary detention and forced labor. Targeted against ethnic and religious minorities, the People’s Republic of China’s use of forced labor is no longer confined to the Xinjiang region but is increasingly taking place across China through PRC government-facilitated arrangements with private sector manufacturers.
The advisory will make businesses aware of the potential exposure in their supply chains to entities that engage in human rights abuses in Xinjiang—or elsewhere in China—and the associated reputational, economic, and legal risks of such involvement.