米、新疆綿の輸入阻止へ　「奴隷労働で生産」と断定

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米国は、中国の新疆ウイグル自治区の綿は「奴隷労働」により生産されているとして、新彊綿の輸入を阻止すると発表した。（写真は資料写真）
　中国政府は資源が豊富な同自治区における政策をめぐり、国際社会から厳しい批判を受けている。合わせて１００万人ものウイグル人などイスラム系少数民族が強制収容所に拘束されていると、複数の人権団体が指摘している。
　米国が今回新たに導入する規制により、準軍事組織「新疆生産建設兵団（通称：兵団）」が生産した綿を含む貨物を留め置く権限が、米税関・国境警備局に与えられる。兵団は、すでに財務省の制裁対象となっている。
　米国土安全保障省のケン・クチネリ氏は２日、「中国の共産主義政府によって行われている人権侵害を、ドナルド・トランプ大統領と米国民は決して容認しない」と断言。
　さらに「わが省は、米国企業を含む人権侵害の加害者らが、奴隷労働から利益を得るために米国の制度を操ることのないよう、率先して法の執行に当たっている」と述べた。
　これを受けて中国政府は、米国が「強制労働などというフェイクニュース」を広め、「新疆の企業を圧迫」しようとしていると非難した。
　中国外務省の華春瑩報道官は３日、新彊ウイグル自治区内の労働者らは「自らの希望に基づいて職業を選択」しており、同自治区内にはいかなる強制労働もないと否定した。
　新疆は綿の世界的な生産地。ある労働団体の調査で、米国に輸入された衣類のうち、わずかなりとも同自治区の綿を含むものが約２０％に上ると推算されている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/04-13:02）

The United States will block imports of cotton it says are harvested with slave labor in China's Xinjiang region, authorities have announced.
Beijing has come under intense international criticism over its policies in the resource-rich territory, where rights groups say as many as one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are being held in internment camps.
The new rule allows Customs and Border Protection officials to detain shipments containing cotton originating from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a major paramilitary group already sanctioned by the US Treasury.
The human rights abuses taking place at the hands of the Chinese Communist government will not be tolerated by President Trump and the American people, said senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Ken Cuccinelli on Wednesday.
DHS is taking the lead to enforce our laws to make sure human rights abusers, including US businesses, are not allowed to manipulate our system in order to profit from slave labor, he added.
Beijing responded by accusing the United States of fabricating fake news of so-called forced labor and attempting to oppress Xinjiang businesses.
Their aim is to constrain and oppress relevant parties and enterprises in China and curb China's development, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Thursday.
She denied there was any forced labor in Xinjiang, saying workers in the region choose occupations based on their own wishes.
Xinjiang is a global hub for cotton, with one study by a labor group estimating that 20 percent of the garments imported into the United States contain at least some yarn from the region.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in September that products from Xinjiang forced labour often end up here in American stores and homes.
Beijing has staunchly defended its policy in Xinjiang, where it says training programs, work schemes and better education have helped stamp out extremism.
But Homeland Security officials have described the region's training centers as facilities run like a concentration camp.
The US House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously in September to ban all imports from Xinjiang but the bill has yet to pass the Senate.
The country already bans products made through slavery but the proposed law would issue a blanket ban on products from the region, saying that forced labor is inextricably linked to its economy.
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