U.S. sanctions on forced Uighur labor anger Beijing

— China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its institutions and enterprises, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday after the U.S. Senate passed a law barring imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were made without forced labor.

The spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said the measure approved Thursday “indicates that the U.S. has no scruples about smearing China by every means.”

“The relevant actions seriously undermine the principles of market economy and international economic and trade rules, and seriously damage the interests of Chinese institutions and enterprisnounced es,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

“China strongly deplores and rejects that and urges the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese institutions and enterprises,” Wang said without elaborating.

The law is the latest U.S. penalty over China’s alleged systemic and widespread abuse of ethnic and religious minorities in its far western region, especially Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim Uighurs.

President Biden is expected to sign the law after overcoming initial hesitation from the White House and what supporters said was opposition from corporations. He also anBEIJING new sanctions Thursday that target several Chinese biotech and surveillance companies, a leading drone manufacturer and government entities for their actions in Xinjiang.

Despite numerous independent investigations finding forced sterilization and large detention camps where many Uighurs allegedly are compelled to work in factories, China has denounced all such claims as the “lie of the century.”

The U.S. says raw cotton, gloves, tomato products, silicon, fishing gear and a range of solar energy components are among goods allegedly made with help from forced labor.

Xinjiang is a resourcerich mining region, important for both agricultural production and manufacturing.

Detainees also are sometimes transferred from Xinjiang to work in factories elsewhere, making clothing and textiles, electronics, solar energy equipment and car parts, the U.S. says.