Chinese PPE manufacturers use state-subsidised Uighur forced labour

Several of the Chinese companies producing personal protective equipment such as face masks were shown via undercover video footage to be using Uighur labour under a government labour transfer programme that pays regional subsidies for each worker taken in. The equipment is being shipped all over the world, including to the US and Latin America. In the course of the pandemic, the number of companies producing PPE in Xinjiang has risen from four to 51. At Medwell, one such company, Uighurs are kept segregated, are taught Mandarin and Communist Party doctrine, and are graded for their cooperation. An Australian think tank has identified 83 major international brands whose supply chains are connected to the Uighur labour transfers, including Nike, Amazon, Apple, Google, Siemens,Volkswagen, and Toshiba.

Writer: Muyi Xiao, Haley Willis, Christoph Koettl, Natalie Reneau and Drew Jordan
Publication: New York Times