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State Department Warns Top US Firms Over Supply Chain Risks Linked to China’s Xinjiang

Taiwan Advises Its Citizens to Avoid Hong Kong After New Law

TAIPEI—Taiwan citizens should avoid unnecessary visits to or transit through Hong Kong, Macau, or mainland China after the passing of an “outrageous” national security law for the former British colony, a Taiwan government official said on July 2. The law, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing, targets crimes like secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. It has been widely condemned in Chinese-claimed and democratic Taiwan where Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters have won support. A protester (center R) is detained by police during a rally against a new national security law, on the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China, in Hong Kong, China, on July 1, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images) Protesters chant slogans and gesture during a rally against…

State Department Warns Top US Firms Over Supply Chain Risks Linked to China’s Xinjiang

WASHINGTON—The U.S. State Department warned top American companies including Walmart, Apple, and Amazon.com over risks faced from maintaining supply chains associated with human rights abuses in China’s western Xinjiang region, according to a letter seen by Reuters on June 26.

“It is critical that U.S. companies and individuals be aware of the large-scale human rights abuses perpetrated by the PRC government in Xinjiang,” Keith Krach, Undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy, and the environment wrote on July 1.

“Businesses should evaluate their exposure to the risks that result from partnering with, investing in, and otherwise providing support to companies that operate in or are linked to Xinjiang,” he said in the letter also sent to trade groups.

The United States is seeking to ratchet up pressure on China at a time of heightened tensions over that country’s treatment of Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Beijing’s new national security law for Hong Kong.

State Department Warns Top US Firms Over Supply Chain Risks Linked to China’s Xinjiang Workers walk by the perimeter fence of a labor camp in Xinjiang on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

It also follows a Wednesday advisory by the U.S. government that said companies doing business in Xinjiang or with entities using Xinjiang labor could be exposed to “reputational, economic, and legal risks.”

In a call with reporters, Krach said the complex nature of supply chains was making companies vulnerable to potential risks and urged them to be more vigilant. “It’s incumbent on the board of directors for each company to conduct a detailed analysis of their supply chains to reveal who their company is buying from and who it is selling to,” he said.

He did not give a specific number on how many U.S. companies might have been entangled in such supply chains.

The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been detained in camps there.

By Humeyra Pamuk

Focus News: State Department Warns Top US Firms Over Supply Chain Risks Linked to China’s Xinjiang

India’s Virus Cases Surpass 600,000, Curve Rises

NEW DELHI—India’s number of coronavirus cases passed 600,000 on Thursday with the nation’s infection curve rising and its testing capacity being increased. The 19,148 new cases reported in the past 24 hours raised the national total to 604,641, with nearly 100,000 of them in the past four days. A total of 17,834 people have died so far due to the virus, according to India’s Health Ministry. More than 60 percent of the cases are in the worst-hit Maharashtra state, Tamil Nadu state, and the capital territory of New Delhi. However, the western beach of state of Goa, a popular backpacking destination, opened for tourism on Thursday with the state government allowing 250 hotels to reopen after more than three months. Tourists will either have to carry COVID-19 negative certificates or…