EVENT: Cotton- the Fabric Full of Lies: Textile/Apparel Sector Contaminates Global Supply Chains
Washington, D.C. – The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long regarded the over 1.5 million prisoners in China as a source of free labor for both the domestic and the export economy. In addition to the prisoners who have been sentenced through China’s regular judicial system, there are untold numbers of prisoners who are part of the China’s less formal, but no less brutal, “re-education through labor” system. It is in fact through implementation of the laojiao economy (“reform-through-labor” is known as 劳教 “laojiao” in Chinese), that Xinjiang region has been transformed into the largest cotton production area in China.
As part of its strategy to suppress the Uyghur people, the CCP has started to move its primary textile and garment industry from coastal areas to Xinjiang. At the same time, China has forced over a million Uyghurs into so-called “vocational schools” and forced them to work in the factories to produce a cheap, steady supply of manufactured goods. During this press conference, Citizen Power Initiatives for China will release its report that shows that every link of the cotton/textile/garment supply chain in Xinjiang is adulterated by forced labor, and as a result, should be banned from importation into the United States.
WHO: Citizen Power Initiatives for China
WHAT: Press conference to release report, “Cotton: The Fabric Full of Lies — A report on forced and prison labor in Xinjiang, China, and the Nexus to Global Supply Chains.”
WHEN: Thursday, August 22, 2019, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (EDT)
WHERE: Citizen Power Initiatives for China
415 2nd St. NE, Suite 100, Washington, D.C. 20002
AGENDA/SPEAKERS:
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- Lianchao Han, Vice-president of CPIFC, key findings of the report
- Tahir Hamut, former Uyghur victim of Xinjiang labor camp, personal account
- Louisa Greve, Director for External Affairs of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, comment
- Q&A
CONTACT: Daniel Gong: 202-827-5762 danielgong@initiativesforchina.org