'Strong step': Nancy Pelosi on Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

After Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that it is a strong step to combat the exploitation of forced labor in Xinjiang

After US President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) into law today, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday (local time) said that it is a strong step to combat the exploitation of forced labor in China's Xinjiang province.

The bill received unanimous bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.

"President Biden and the Congress, on a bipartisan and bicameral basis, have taken a strong step to combat the exploitation of forced labor in Xinjiang with the enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," Pelosi said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" that bans importing of goods into the US made with forced labor in China's Xinjiang province.

"The ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities is a challenge to the conscience of the entire world, which is why the House twice passed legislation to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its exploitation of forced labor and put an end to this horrific practice," the statement said.

It further added, "We salute Chairman Jim McGovern for his leadership and commitment to this action, which is a moral imperative for our values and an economic priority for our workers. We cannot accept a situation in which American workers and businesses are forced to compete with forced labor."

"Congress, on a bipartisan and bicameral basis, will continue to condemn and confront the CCP's human rights abuses in Xinjiang and many other abuses in the region, from Hong Kong to Tibet to the mainland. If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights any place in the world," the statement added.