Demonstrators protest against China’s alleged human rights violations in California on Nov. 15, 2023. (Photo: AFP)
Compared with US law, the EU legislation is weak, says China expert Adrian Zenz
UCA News March 06, 2024
A US-based expert has expressed concern over enforcing the European Union’s (EU) latest provisional agreement to ban products manufactured using forced labor by unlawfully detained Uyghurs in China, says a report.
Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow and director in China Studies at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said that he was “disappointed” at the provisions of the proposed bill, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on March 5.
“I think it is disappointing that the law was not made stronger to counter Uyghur forced labor. This is due to, I think, a lack of understanding [of] the nature of state-imposed forced labor,” Zenz said.
Earlier that day, the European Parliament and the EU Council reached a provisional agreement on new rules that ban products made using forced labor.
“National authorities or, if third countries are involved, the EU Commission, will investigate suspected use of forced labor in companies’ supply chains,” the EU press release read.
If the investigation proves the use of forced labor, the authorities can demand that the relevant goods be withdrawn from the EU market and online marketplaces and confiscate them at the borders.
While the normal goods can be donated, recycled, or destroyed, items of strategic importance to the EU may be “withheld until the company eliminates forced labor from its supply chains,” the press release said.
The bill needs to be approved by the European Parliament before being enforced in the European Union, RFA reported.
Zenz alleged that the banning of products made from Uyghur forced labor was questionable as the bill’s implementation relies on the EU Commission which had to investigate forced labor.
“Contrary to the American Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), [the EU] did not reverse the burden of proof because the European Council refused that,” Zenz said.
“That means that the European Commission would have to somehow investigate the presence of Uyghur forced labor, which is not possible,” Zenz emphasized.
Zenz pointed out that the EU’s bill was weaker than the UFLPA.
“The American UFLPA can immediately seize goods, stop them from entering, whereas in the European case when an investigation is open, the goods can continue to flow into Europe,” Zenz said.
As of September 2023, the United States had blacklisted 27 companies as per UFLPA for their use of forced Uyghur labor.
The EU member states were afraid of the economic ramifications that they would have to face if they strongly counter forced labor, Zenz alleged.
“They're focused on other interests than on trying to systematically combat the situation in Xinjiang,” Zenz said.
China has imprisoned some 1.8 million Uyghurs in so-called “re-education camps,” since 2017.
The government has repeatedly claimed that the Uyghur detainees have received vocational training in various skills at these centers which have since been shut down, RFA reported.
Survivors and witnesses of these “re-education camps,” have alleged that the Uyghurs detained there have faced intense political indoctrination, abuse, rape, torture, and even death.
Western governments and rights groups have mounted consistent pressure on manufacturers to back off from Xinjiang which attained notoriety for the alleged persecution of Uyghurs.
In February 2024,German chemical manufacturing giant BASF announced its decision to pull out of its joint ventures in Xinjiang.
