US forced labor allegations against Chinese companies strongly condemned

Beijing expressed strong condemnation and firm opposition on Tuesday to the so-called forced labor allegation against Chinese companies, vowing to take resolute measures to safeguard legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises.

The US congressional investigation released on Monday claimed that carmakers BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen had used components from a Chinese supplier banned in the US over alleged forced labor links.

At least 8,000 BMW Mini Cooper cars were imported into the US with components from banned Chinese firm Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD), according to the report by US Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wgden's staff.

The so-called Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act by the US not only sanctioned Chinese companies, but also hijacked companies from all countries onto the chariot of suppressing China in the name of compliance in an attempt to create an economic coercion alliance, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Out of self interests, such practice disrupts international trade rules and international industrial and supply chains, which represents US hegemony and bullying, Wang told a daily news conference.

Wang said that the so-called act is not about preventing forced labor but about creating unemployment.

It does not protect human rights but, under the guise of human rights, harms the survival, employment and development rights of the people in Xinjiang, he said, adding that it is the most notorious act infringing upon human rights in the 21st century.

The US Congress in 2021 passed the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act law to strengthen enforcement of laws to prevent the import of goods from Xinjiang over the so-called forced labor, which has been repeatedly refuted by China, calling it nothing but an egregious lie propagated by anti-China forces.