Nov 21
Breaking: New Report on Xinjiang Forced Labor Tainting Global Cotton Industry
A farmer harvests cotton in a field in Hami, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. (PULATI NIYAZI/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON D.C. — Today Dr. Adrian Zenz, Senior Research Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), released a breaking report in partnership with the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Global Policy detailing new findings on forced Uyghur labor in China’s Xinjiang region: Coercive Labor in Xinjiang: Labor Transfer and the Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities to Pick Cotton.
This first of its kind study demonstrates the widespread use of forced labor in China’s cotton picking industry — forced labor that is primarily targeting the Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority that lives in the autonomous territory of Xinjiang in Northwest China. This research comes just two weeks after the Trump administration issued a limited ban of Chinese cotton.
The report’s findings are drawn from Chinese government reports and media sources. Based on his discoveries, Dr. Zenz argues that his findings of widespread coercion in cotton picking warrant a full ban on Xinjiang cotton for all relevant supply chains. Zenz is the leading expert worldwide detailing the plight of the Uyghurs. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Zenz’ most recent research on forced Uyghur sterilization “shocking” and “disturbing”.
The full-length report is available here.
ABOUT DR. ZENZ: Dr. Adrian Zenz is a Senior Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C. (non-resident), and supervises Ph.D. students at the European School of Culture and Theology, Korntal, Germany. His research focus is on China’s ethnic policy, public recruitment in Tibet and Xinjiang, Beijing’s internment campaign in Xinjiang, and China’s domestic security budgets. Dr. Zenz is the author of Tibetanness under Threat and co-editor of Mapping Amdo: Dynamics of Change. He has played a leading role in the analysis of leaked Chinese government documents, including the “China Cables” and the “Karakax List.” Dr. Zenz is an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, and a frequent contributor to the international media.
