So-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act of U.S. against rule of law

The U.S. government recently began enforcement of the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), furthering its political manipulation to disturb China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and contain China's under the guise of "protecting human rights."

A worker is loading a container with a forklift in Urumqi International Land Port Area, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, July 15, 2022. (People's Daily Online/ Cai Zengle)

The so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang is nothing but a big lie concocted by anti-China forces in the U.S. and the West. The UFLPA deriving from the big lie grossly interferes in China's domestic affairs and seriously violates the principles of international law and the basic norms governing international relations.

The fundamental goal of the U.S., which destroys human rights, rules and rule of law in the name of protecting them, is to maintain its own hegemony.

The evil law neglects facts and is built entirely on rumors and lies.

Xinjiang's progress in economic development and social stability is recognized worldwide. People of all ethnic groups in the autonomous region are living and working in peace and contentment, and their labor rights and interests are practically ensured.

The so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang is just a farce directed by colluded anti-China forces in the U.S. and the West to defame China. It's just a common tactic for them to fabricate fake evidence and forge "reports" with "witnesses" they bribe.

A farmer shows a Hami melon, a type of muskmelon originally from Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, at a Hami melon festival, July 16, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Xu Xinghan)

Facts have proved that the so-called "witnesses" are exposed to be lousy "actors" playing for different "scripts." The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which has repeatedly issued fake reports on Xinjiang-related issues, is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of State, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and arms dealers. Two of its largest foreign government funding grants exactly came from the U.S. Department of State.

The Helena Kennedy Centre at the Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom has issued multiple fabricated reports on Xinjiang. Some authors of these reports were revealed by the media as receiving large sums of funding from the U.S. government, some even with ties to terrorist organizations.

The U.S., supporting the lies concocted by these "rumor makers," will only lead to a faster collapse of its reputation and image, and make itself a laughingstock of the international society.

The evil law tramples on the international rule of law and stains the spirit of rule of law.

It's common sense that international law has a clear definition and standard of forced labour. According to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 issued by the International Labour Organization, forced labor shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.

Based on the convention, forced labor doesn't exist in Xinjiang, and the U.S. has no position to be a "judge" on the matter.

The truth is that the Chinese government has ratified 28 international labor conventions, including the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. The country is faithfully fulfilling its obligations under these conventions to protect the rights and interests of laborers.

The U.S., in contrast, has not even ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. Apart from disobeying international law, the U.S. has also prioritized its domestic laws over international law, which is total defiance and infringement of the international rule of law.

The evil law pursues "presumption of guilt," which obviously runs against the "presumption of innocence" principle of international law.

It defines all or part of the products manufactured in Xinjiang as so-called goods produced through forced labor, and the U.S. government requires importers to provide evidence that no element of their products was produced through forced labor, which is purely economic bullying.

The illegal unilateral sanction and long-arm jurisdiction imposed by the U.S., as well as the country's threat of detainment to the importers, mirror a robbery mentality, which seriously violates the rules and laws of the market and undermines the international trade orders.

The true intention of the U.S. is to contain and suppress China through Xinjiang-related issues by deliberately speculating lies and implementing evil laws that harm others and themselves.

Photo shows the opening ceremony of a Hami melon festival held in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, July 16, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Cao Xinjia)

Lawrence Wilkerson, the chief of staff to former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, once publicly confessed back in 2018 that the so-called Xinjiang-related issues were nothing more than a long-term U.S. strategic plot to destabilize and contain China from the inside.

Besides, officials in the Economic and Political Section at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong province, once told guests privately at a reception in 2021 that "nothing is wrong" in Xinjiang. They said the U.S. government believed hyping up "forced labor, genocide and human rights abuses" in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region would help contain China.

The U.S. political tricks in the name of human rights have more and more revealed the intentions of the White House to the international society.

"In my opinion, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is nothing but a political ploy designed to bash China," said Daniel Kovalik, an American lawyer who teaches international human rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

The intention of fabricating Xinjiang-related lies is doomed to fail, and the UFLPA will only end up bankrupt.

Xinjiang-related issues are China's domestic affairs that no foreign force has the right to interfere. The Chinese government and people will always stay committed to safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests.

No individual or force is able to use Xinjiang-related issues to stop the firm steps of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang to pursue a better life, or the historical process of China's development.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)