The Peoples Republic of China remains a country of great concern to the United States, said Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Cindy Dyer. In the State Department’s recently released Trafficking in Persons Report, China has again been placed on Tier 3, the most egregious category, for its “policy or pattern of government-sponsored trafficking.”
North Koreans, among others, remain vulnerable to trafficking by the PRC, said Ambassador Dyer:
“We are also very concerned about forced labor among Uighurs, Tibetans, and other ethnic minorities. Specifically, we are tracking, as noted in the report, an increased number of labor transfers in the Xinjiang region, where between January of ‘23 to September of ‘23, more than three million transfers occurred.”
Ambassador Dyer also expressed concern about the treatment of PRC nationals in Belt and Road initiative countries.
“That specific program has been – you will see that it’s brought up in 16 of our country narratives. We are suggesting that any countries participating in the [Belt and Road] initiatives really engage in increased oversight and screening,” she said. “One of the things that we’re doing about it is releasing this report with as much information as we can possibly gather. ... The other thing that we’re doing, which I think is equally or even more important: The State Department participates in the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force.”
The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force is implementing the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which is aimed at keeping out of the U.S. goods made with slave labor. The State Department recently added a Chinese seafood manufacturer to the list of banned companies. The U.S. government is also working with industry partners to monitor their own supply chains.
“Human trafficking is a stain on the conscience of our society,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “It fuels crime, corruption, and violence. It distorts our economies and harms our workers. And it violates the fundamental right of all people to be free.” That’s why the U.S. will not rest until this scourge is irradicated, not only in China, but around the globe.
