WASHINGTON, December 8, Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday to ban imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor, one of three measures backed by Washington as it continues its pushback against Beijing's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.
The House voted 428- 1 on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. It must pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden to become a law.
The Uyghur measure would make a rebuttable presumption that all goods from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has set up a vast network of detention camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim groups, were made with forced labor.
China denies that it is behind the abuses in Xinjiang, but the U.S. government and many rights groups say Beijing is carrying out genocide there.
Republicans accused Biden's White House and his fellow Democrats in Congress of slow-walking the legislation because it would complicate the president's renewable energy agenda.
Xinjiang supplies much of the world's materials for solar panels.
The White House and congressional Democrats deny delaying the bills.
In response to China's human rights abuses, the Biden administration announced on Monday that U.S. government officials would boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The Democratic-led House passed two other measures related to China and rights by huge margins on Wednesday. The House voted 428 - 0 for a resolution saying that the International Olympic Committee violated its human rights commitments by cooperating with China's government.
It voted by 427 to 1 for a resolution condemning the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity committed by China against Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups, and calling for action at the UN.