Staff Reports
The United States Congress is interested in discovering whether or if corporations in China are attempting to circumvent American sanctions by importing goods that were manufactured using slave labor from the Uyghur people.
Red jujube dates, an Asian fruit that is cultivated and packed in China's disputed Xinjiang province using slave labor from Uyghurs, are sold in grocery stores across the nation, including in Washington, District of Columbia, and its surrounding communities, according to recent findings by investigators working for the Congressional Investigative Committee. These findings were made public earlier this month.
The Washington Free Beacon was able to secure a copy of the letter, and according to that letter, a group of 27 Republican legislators is asking the United States government for information. Treasury and Customs and Border Protection about the means by which these products are making their way into American retail outlets while simultaneously aiding Communist organizations that make use of slave labor.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed in June, and it makes it illegal to import goods that were manufactured by the Chinese Communist Party with the use of Uyghur slave labor. However, according to the senators, this has not prevented a Chinese company known as XPCC from selling the jujube dates to a middleman whose name is Qingdao Daochuan Food Company Ltd. This middleman then sells the items to a distributor in Brooklyn. The method of evading sanctions, according to sources within the congressional delegation, bears resemblance to methods utilized by the Iranian dictatorship to circumvent human rights restrictions that are analogous to the ones being violated by the sanctions. The dissemination of these products across the American market has given rise to allegations that the administration of Vice President Joe Biden is not obeying the law.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), who was one among the representatives who signed the letter, told the Free Beacon that it is illegal and unethical to sell products that were made with the use of Uyghur slave labor. According to Customs and Border Patrol, the fact that these red dates are still sold in American grocery stores demonstrates that the Biden administration has failed miserably to carry out its responsibility of enforcing this regulation. Congress has requested that they ensure that no products originating from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region would be permitted to enter American markets.
The company that creates the dates is called XPCC, and it is located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. XPCC is a state-owned paramilitary and commercial organization. Since the corporation was initially sanctioned in 2020 for violating human rights, it is illegal for any American citizen to engage in financial transactions with the company.
However, according to photographic proof acquired by a congressional worker and included in the letter, jujube dates prepared by XPCC were recently found in a number of locations, one of which being a grocery store in the District of Columbia (DC). suburbs. The Members of Parliament point out that some of the items are even tagged with XPCC branding—a logo of XPCC troops saluting a red communist banner inscribed on the bags themselves, which is evidence that the packaging "unambiguously demonstrates that XPCC is the producer.
There are various variants of these dates sold by independent vendors that may be purchased on Amazon.com.
According to the statements made by the legislators, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act "requires that U.S. authorities investigate and prosecute any U.S. However, exports from the region reached a two-year high, raising concerns about the administration of President Joe Biden's enforcement actions. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has held all items coming from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the premise that the commodities were produced with forced labor.
This letter raises critical concerns about how seriously Customs and Border Protection is executing U.S. prohibitions against China's forced labor abuses because it says that red jujube dates from XUAR are available in the United States through sellers such as Amazon and frequently with XPCC insignia.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on American Examiner News.
