US Congress passes import ban on Chinese Uyghur region

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There were anti-China protesters outside the White House.

The US Congress passed a bill that requires companies to prove that goods imported from China's Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour.

The US has accused China of committing genocide in its treatment of the Uyghur minority.

Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple were among the companies that criticized the bill.

The White House initially did not support it.

It was approved by the Senate on Thursday, but only one member of Congress voted for it.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act will be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

It came after months of Mr Biden's spokeswoman not taking a stand on the legislation. The press secretary said that Mr Biden would sign it.

China is accused of employing slavery and genocide in its western region. US and multinational corporations, which are already facing shortages over supply chain issues, had lobbied against it out of concern over how it would affect business.

Many companies have taken steps to clean up their supply chains. The bill passed the upper chamber of Congress, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio said that they should not have any concerns about it.

"For those who have not done that, they will no longer be able to continue to make Americans - every one of us, frankly - unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide."

The final text of the bill was reached this week by both chambers, after earlier versions passed the House and Senate.

The Republican blockade that prevented Mr Biden's ambassador to China from being approved was removed by the measure.

The US Commerce Department announced sanctions on over 30 Chinese technology companies and research institutions that are accused of working in support of the Chinese military.

The rule prohibits American companies from selling goods to entities that are not licensed.

The agency accused China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences of using technology to support Chinese military end uses.

Gina Raimondo said in a statement that China is using these technologies to control its people and to oppress members of ethnic and religious minority groups.

The US treasury department on Thursday announced an investment blacklist of eight Chinese companies that it accuses of being involved in the tracking of Uyghurs.

The Beijing foreign ministry spokesman said that the US politicians politicise and instrumentalise science and technology and economic and trade issues based on ideology.

This is against the principle of fair competition. It will undermine international trade rules and threaten the security of global industrial and supply chains.

Tensions between China and several western nations are rising.

The UK, Australia, the US and Canada have decided not to send diplomats to the Beijing Winter Olympics in protest of Chinese human rights abuses.

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Uyghurs and Hong Kongers react to the US boycott.

There are human rights in China.
China.
The Uighurs are from China.
The United States.