Consumers Action! Let’s Remember: Stop buying Xinjiang Cotton
Press Release
Consumers Action!
From today’s UN World Cotton Day
Let’s Remember: Stop buying Xinjiang Cotton
7 October 2024
Embargo: For Immediate Release
Cotton is a major agricultural commodity, providing income and employment for millions worldwide, particularly in developing countries.
UN World Cotton Day 2024 will be celebrated for the first time in the African continent highlighting labour practices and fair trade. We support the livelihoods of millions of smallholders and labourers who contribute significantly to the economies of many developing countries and stop China’s trade practices with forced labour to disrupt fair trade and supply chains.
It is despicable that the human rights abuses being perpetrated against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China amount to the crime of genocide. It is still ongoing. The UN 2022 report has concluded that discriminatory practices are affecting Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities, arbitrary detention of minority communities and coerced work practices in detention camps allowed by the Chinese Authorities. Moreover, these serious breaches of human rights had transcended beyond borders, affecting Uyghur, Kazakh and other predominantly Muslim minority families across the world.
Worse, Beijing not only continues to ignore these human rights abuses against the Uyghur people and Muslim minorities; but also is complicit in limiting those who try to halt these human rights violations. As reported by the BBC, the Chinese Government even resorted to deplorable trade practices by censoring fashion companies for having a policy not to use Cotton from Xinjiang.
We call on all consumers to join us and stop buying cotton products made in China.
The UK has long recognised the banning of imports of foreign prison-made goods and products tainted with Modern Slavery. However, the current legislation needs to be updated as bad state actors like Beijing will not cooperate with investigations.
More importantly, the UK Parliament must act now to legislate:
a) that imports must first prove they are not tainted with forced labour anywhere in their supply chains; and
b) UK authorities have the power and will initiate investigations into suspicious goods, supply chains, and manufacturers. Decisions to investigate will be based on factual and verifiable information that can be received from, for example, international organisations, cooperating authorities and whistle-blowers. Several risk factors and criteria will be taken into account, including the prevalence of state-imposed forced labour in certain economic sectors and geographic areas; and
c) bringing the UK legislation up to standard with EU legislation for trade in the European Single Market and providing a better safeguard for UK companies from falling foul of criminality under current UK legislation.
Nicholas Chan, vice-chair for the LD Friends of Hong Kong, says, “We can vote with our feet. Stop Genocide in Xinjiang! Stop buying Cotton made in China. Let’s support Cotton For Good! I also call on Parliament to legislate now, Banning imports from areas with egregious abuses such as Xinjiang.”
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Footnote & References:
- The Liberal Democrats Friends of Hong Kong is a fully accredited Affiliated Organisation of the Liberal Democrats (UK). We are active in policymaking and set out a China Strategy in these dangerous times.
2) OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China, published 31 August 2022, available at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf
- China probes Calvin Klein over Xinjiang cotton, BBC News, 24 September 2024, available at, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20pxwwqqzwo .