London (AP) – Some global brands are among numerous companies at risk of inadvertently engaging in forced labor linked to their Chinese supply chains, particularly involving important minerals and mineral-based products sourced from China’s western regions, as stated by international rights groups on Wednesday.
A report from Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance indicates that companies such as Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola, and paint supplier Sherwin Williams may be connected to titanium sourced from Xinjiang, where forced labor practices disproportionately affect the Uyghurs and other Turkish minorities.
This report comes amid ongoing discussions between two of the world’s largest economies: China and the United States, aimed at reducing trade conflicts.
Researchers identified 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium sectors operating in Xinjiang. The findings indicate a risk linked to the Chinese government’s “labor transfer program,” which is part of a long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention.
Commercial paints, thermos products, and components used in the aerospace, automotive, and defense sectors are among the internationally sold items that can trace their supply chains back to minerals from Xinjiang. Companies are urged to scrutinize their supply chains.
“The extraction and processing of (Xinjiang) minerals rely on the state’s forced labor program targeting local Uyghurs and other Turkish people,” the report states.
The companies mentioned in the report have not provided immediate comments.
A 2022 United Nations report found that China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, with estimates suggesting that over a million Uyghurs have been detained arbitrarily as part of measures the Chinese government claims are aimed at tackling terrorism and separatism.
The Chinese government has dismissed the UN’s allegations, asserting that its actions in Xinjiang focus on addressing threats and ensuring stability.
In 2021, former US President Joe Biden enacted legislation to block imports from Xinjiang unless companies can demonstrate that their products were not made using forced labor. Initially targeting solar products, tomatoes, cotton, and apparel, the law has recently expanded to include aluminum and seafood.
Recent reports from the International Energy Agency emphasize that essential mineral resources globally are increasingly concentrated in a few countries, with China serving as a major hub for the purification and processing of lithium, cobalt, graphite, and other minerals.
According to global rights compliance, many prominent Chinese mineral firms are investing in the exploration and extraction of lithium, a crucial element for electric vehicle batteries. Xinjiang is also highlighted as a primary source of beryllium in China, a mineral vital for aerospace, defense, and communications, as noted in the report.
Source: apnews.com