In a recent move to crack down on companies suspected of exploiting the Uyghur ethnic minority’s forced labor in China, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has added three Chinese entities to its list. The decision comes under the provisions of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFPLA), which establishes a rebuttable presumption that any goods produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or sold by businesses on the UFPLA entity list were prepared using forced labor. As per the rules, products sold by impacted entities are banned from importation into the United States unless the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner determines that they were not produced with forced labor, based on a “clear and convincing” standard of evidence.
The DHS has accused Dongguan Oasis Shoes of partnering with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) to recruit, transfer, and receive individuals from persecuted groups, including Uyghurs, out of XUAR for work at its factory in Guangdong province, eastern China. Similarly, it has alleged that Shandong Meijia Group, a food processing company based in China’s eastern Shandong province, also collaborated with the Chinese government’s administration in labor transfer programs that saw Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities transferred out of Xinjiang to work at locations in Shandong. Another entity, Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity, has been accused of participating in Chinese government-sponsored labor transfer programs as well.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas emphasized the department’s commitment to eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains, stating that they will continue to investigate companies involved or facilitating such practices and hold them accountable. He further urged stakeholders across industries, civil society, and international partners to work with the DHS in eradicating the scourge of forced labor.
Despite these allegations, the Chinese government has denied engaging in abusive labor practices targeting Uyghurs and other ethnic minority populations. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the UFPLA’s passage in December 2021, calling it a move that “maliciously denigrates the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang in disregard of facts and truth.” NTD News reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. for comment on the recent actions targeting Dongguan Oasis Shoes, Shandong Meijia Group, and Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity; however, no response had been received at the time of press.