US SANCTIONS 11 CHINESE FIRMS OVER XINJIANG RIGHTS ABUSES

The United States is restricting 11 Chinese companies from buying American technology and other goods because it says they're linked to alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, Jill Disis and Philip Wang reported for CNN Business in the afternoon of July 21, 2020.

The list compiled by the US Department of Commerce covers a range of companies, including biotech firms and those that manufacture wigs and home appliances. US authorities claim that several of them use "forced labor involving Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups" in China's Xinjiang region. It accused others of connections to "genetic analyses used to further the repression" of those groups.

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement Monday that the restrictions would ensure that US goods and tech are not used in "the Chinese Communist Party's despicable offensive against defenseless Muslim minority populations."

Washington did not detail which American companies do business with the sanctioned Chinese firms. But Apple, Calvin Klein and Nike, among others, have all partnered with some of the companies included on the list, according to a report published in June by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). The report examined the use of Uyghur labor in China, claiming that those people are "working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors."