Photo from Flickr Creative Commons by Anek Suwannaphoom
Federal customs officers are holding a 13-ton shipment of hair products that are made with human hair to investigate potential forced child and prison labor in Xinjiang, China.
Officials say the huge shipment is suspicious and might be linked to the Chinese internment camps and factories that violate human rights through abuse, surveillance, and forced labor.
The cargo that is worth more than $800,000 is being held in Newark, N.J. after the order on June 17 for ports nationwide to hold products manufactured by Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. Ltd., reports Fox News.
Brenda Smith of the Customs and Border Protection Office of Trade said, “The production of these goods constitutes a very serious human rights violation, the detention order is intended to send a clear and direct message to all entities seeking to do business with the United States that elicit inhumane practices will not be tolerated in U.S. supply chains,” according to Fox.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of persecution and repression in Xinjiang” is trying to eradicate ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uighurs and other minorities,” said National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot.
The Trump administration urges American businesses to stop the use of products from China that might involve forced labor from internment camps.
However, Former National Security Adviser John Bolten claims Donald Trump has endorsed other prison camps in Beijing that include the detention of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and Muslims in Xinjiang, according to NPR. Bolten also said Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinpig he “should go ahead with building the camps.”
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
