• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang Threaten to Taint All China-Sourced Supply Chains
EDITOR'S Q&A

Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang Threaten to Taint All China-Sourced Supply Chains

Clothes manufacturing
September 25, 2019
Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Multiple reports are emerging from Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China, about human rights abuses against the indigenous Uyghur population, including mass detentions and the use of forced and child labor in local factories. Some brands in the apparel and food-processing sectors have already been directly linked to forced labor within “re-education” facilities in Xinjiang. In this conversation with SupplyChainBrain editor-in-chief Bob Bowman, Ryan Aherin, senior commodities analyst with Verisk Maplecroft, says all companies relying on manufacturing in China are at risk of being associated with these abusive practices.

SCB: When did the issue of forced labor in Xinjiang first become an issue?

Aherin: In late 2017, we started seeing early reports that detentions in the area had started, that people were being detained for what might be seen as arbitrary reasons. The Chinese government has clamped down on certain religious practices and things like that, all under the guise of preventing people from succumbing to extremism and engaging in terrorist activities. Also, there have always been some supply chain issues in the region, particularly with regards to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. It’s a sort of military organization that [supposedly] works for economic development in the region, but the real idea is to assimilate Xinjiang into the economy and culture of central China, which is predominantly Han Chinese.

SCB: What type of manufacturing is taking place in Xinjiang?

Aherin: One of the industries that has seen a lot of growth in the last three years, coinciding with the ramp up of these detention centers, is textile and garment manufacturing. The government has been struggling to find ways to keep the Chinese clothing manufacturing industry competitive, especially with rising labor and other costs on the east coast, where much of the production has been traditionally located. They’ve been offering incentives to move this base inland. They've set up industry parks and special economic zones, and some cities in Xinjiang have offered incentives like tax-free incentives, or promises to pay for factories, to get businesses to move their operations out there.

SCB: How are workers there being treated?

Aherin: Within the last year or so, we’ve seen reports that people are being detained under the guise of the government saying, "This is a vocational training program to get people involved in the economy.” But according to firsthand accounts, it’s all part of a government surveillance program to get people in jobs where they can be monitored and forced to work in these factories. If they refuse, they face the threat of being sent somewhere with more prison-like conditions than what they're already experiencing.

SCB: Beyond forced labor, what other types of human rights abuses are taking place in Xinjiang?

Aherin: This isn't just related to industry. In the region, there’s been a huge crackdown on freedom of religious practices. Most of the Uyghur population are practicing Muslims, and the government has imposed restrictions such as prohibiting men from having beards longer than a certain length, preventing people from taking part in Friday prayers, and restricting the kind of religious materials that people are allowed to read. There have also been reports of government agents living with Uyghur families as “guests.” And we’ve seen government surveillance. There's been a lot of talk about facial recognition cameras being installed, to allow the government to keep a closer watch on the population. It’s systematic state repression.

SCB: What has been the response of U.S. companies manufacturing in the region to reports of these abuses?

Aherin: The primary response we see right now is companies saying, "We're investigating any ties that we have to the region. We're looking at suppliers to [make sure] we're not supplying from the region anymore, or that we're going to look more closely at suppliers from that region." But there's doesn't seem to be a real strategy in any industry to look into this more closely. That’s fairly difficult to do because of the restrictions the government has put in place, so you can't really monitor your supplier in this situation. Things like factory audits are much more difficult. What we’re primarily seeing is more of a reactive strategy. Once they’re been linked to allegations that they're sourcing materials from there, companies will say, "We're going to review our suppliers and see what the next step is.” In some ways, it has caught them off guard.

SCB: What’s the relationship between manufacturing in Xinjiang and sourcing in China generally?

Aherin: It's difficult to say for most industries, particularly for textiles and garment production. Xinjiang is a very important region for that industry, because many raw materials, including more than 70% of China's cotton, are produced there. Those materials are already linked to forced labor in the region. After the cotton is harvested, however, it's mixed in with other sources and blended into materials, so it's very hard to trace back to origin. Still, if you're sourcing cotton from China, odds are that some of it was produced in Xinjiang.

SCB: What should U.S. companies be doing in response to these revelations?

Aherin: Companies sourcing from China should really be thinking about whether or not they should continue to do so. The risk of being linked to these practices is quite high. At the very least, they should know if they're sourcing from a particular factory, and where they're getting their raw materials from. They need to get as much traceability into their supply chains as possible. Even then, there's no real cure-all for separating yourself from what's going on there, just because of how prevalent it is, particularly in the apparel industry.

SCB: Is it so widespread that companies shouldn't be manufacturing in Xinjiang at all, or is there legitimate manufacturing going on there as well?

Aherin: It’s really difficult to separate what's legitimate and what's not, due to the restrictions on transparency. We advise our clients that if they're sourcing anything from Xinjiang at all, they should automatically be engaging with that supplier to find out as much as they can about the activities it’s involved in, and possibly even reconsidering whether they should be supplying from that region at all.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Sourcing/Procurement/SRM Supply Chain Visibility HR & Labor Management Regulation & Compliance SC Security & Risk Mgmt Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Apparel Food & Beverage China
KEYWORDS China HR & Labor Management Regulation & Compliance SC Security & Risk Mgmt Sourcing/Procurement/SRM Supply Chain Visibility Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Related Articles

    In the Pandemic, Factories’ Commitment to Human Rights Is Slipping

    We Need Technology to Combat Labor Abuses in Supply Chains, New Study Finds

    Environmentalists, Human-Rights Activists Take Aim at Global Supply Chains

  • Related Events

    Post-Pandemic Impacts on Food & Beverage Businesses and How to Ensure Resiliency

    Driving Supply Chain Sustainability: The Role of Real-Time Visibility Using Vehicle and Location Data

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Crafting a New Transportation Bill: The Battle Begins

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Sees Shots Widely Available by Spring; Third of Staffs Will Work From Home Permanently

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • Third-Party Cybersecurity

    What Vaccine Supply Chains Must Do to Protect Against Cyberattack

    Coronavirus
  • California Trucker

    Why One Southern California Trucker Stays Independent

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing