Congress approves import ban targeting forced labor in China

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has given final approval to a bill barring all imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labor. In doing so they overcame initial hesitation from the White House and what supporters say was opposition from corporations. The measure is the latest in a series intensifying U.S. penalties over China’s alleged abuses of ethnic and religious minorities in the western region, especially Xinjiang’s millions of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs. The Commerce Department also has levied new sanctions targeting China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and its 11 research institutes that focus on using biotechnology to support the Chinese military.