China has denied that it uses ‘forced labour’ in the Xinjiang province as alleged by the US. Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming in a Facebook post on the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka said that it has come to his attention that certain Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry association in Bangladesh has alerted its members to the risks associated with import of cotton from China based on the US allegation of forced labour being used in the Xinjiang province. The ambassador said that the alert was issued after a meeting between the association and two representatives of the ‘Indo-Pacific Opportunity Project’ affiliated to the US.
Denying the existence of forced labour in Xinjiang as a lie, Ambassador Li Jiming said that the US is trying to make Xinjiang break away from the International Industrial Chain to defame Beijing with the ultimate goal of containing China.
Ambassador Li Jiming warned that if Bangladeshi people are not cautious, this may hurt Bangladeshi RMG industry as well.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Garments Buying Association’s (BGBA) had told its members to remain cautious while importing fabrics from China for making readymade garments in the light of US enforcing its Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed in December last year, reports the local media. The US Customs and Border Police (CBP) had issued a list of entities from Xinjiang using forced labour which included textile companies also. The CBP rule also applies to goods made in, or shipped through, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other countries that include inputs made in Xinjiang.
