Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, and Zara Support China's Oppression of the Uyghurs

While the global uproar over human rights in the Xinjiang region have resulted in the US decision to impose sanctions against the region's Chinese entities last July, many international companies are reportedly choosing to ignore human rights' concerns as they continue to carry out business activities in the region, disregarding the various forms of injustice and systematic oppression against the Uyghur Muslim minority there.

Using the two-month extension announced by the US government for companies to move their plants from Xinjiang, several US-based supply chains are still running business as usual in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, XPCC, ignoring calls to end operation with the Chinese quasi-military entity where 12% of Xinjiang’s population is reportedly forced to work in inhumane conditions.

In recent days, many US news sources have also reported efforts by several US brands that have been lobbying against a proposed bill that suggests banning products produced in China by forced labor from entering the United States.

According to the New York Times, leading US companies have been hiring lobbyists to pressure US lawmakers not to vote for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which could have a major negative impact on their businesses.

In an attempt to pressure American businesses to withdraw their investments from the region and pay more interest to human rights violation in Xinjiang, many people took to social media calling on Apple, Zara, Muji USA, Nike, Coca-cola, and other well-known names in the business world, to take the right decision and stop making profit through what they described as "the Uyghur genocide."