US Congress passes bill to ban imports from Uyghurs in China

The US Congress has passed legislation requiring companies to prove that goods imported from China's Xinjiang province were not produced by forced labour.

The United States has accused China of committing genocide in its crackdown on the Muslim-majority Uyghur minority.

The bill has been criticized by major companies doing business in the region, including Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple.

Its endorsement also overcame the initial lack of support from the White House.

The bill was approved in the Senate Thursday by a vote of all but one senator.

The Officially Known Uyghur Prevention of Forced Labor Act will go to President Joe Biden's office for signature.

• Who are the Uyghurs?

• Cotton "polluted" in China

The United States accuses China of using slavery and genocide in its resource-rich western regions. US and multinational companies, already suffering from supply chain shortages, have been pressing concerns about the impact on their businesses.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said after the bill passed in the Senate, "Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains. And to be honest, you don't have to worry about this bill."

"Those who don't will be able to continue making Americans. Frankly, we are all unconscious complicity in atrocities and genocide."

Members of the House and Senate reached an agreement on the final text of the bill this week after the previous version was passed by the House and Senate.

The bill also lifts the Republican embargo that prevented approval of Vice President Biden's nominated former ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns.

Earlier on Thursday, the US Commerce Department announced sanctions against more than 30 Chinese technology companies and research institutes accused of collaborating with the Chinese military.

The latest rule prohibits US companies from selling goods to sanctioned companies and entities without a special license.

The agency also accused the Chinese Military Medical Academy of using biotechnology to "support China's military uses", including "weapons known as brain-controlled weapons".

"China has decided to use these technologies to control the Chinese people and suppress ethnic and religious groups," Commerce Minister Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

The US Treasury on Thursday also issued an investment blacklist of eight Chinese companies that blame bio-monitoring and tracking of Uyghurs, including DJI, the world's largest maker of small drones often used by hobbyists.

"By exaggerating the concept of national security, some US politicians politicize and use ideological science, technology, economic and trade issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing on Wednesday when asked about possible new US sanctions.

"This is against the principles of a market economy and fair competition. It only threatens and harms the security of global industries and supply chains and undermines the rules of international trade."

The move comes amid escalating tensions between China and mainly Western countries.

The United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Canada have announced that they will not send diplomats to China to protest allegations of human rights abuses at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, scheduled for February 2022.