US political maneuvering over Xinjiang bills
It is now an established fact that the UK-based unofficial tribunal's verdict on Xinjiang was politically motivated as latest figures indicate steady economic growth in the region which is both inclusive and reflective of concerted efforts at promoting new market entities. Yet these facts continue to fall on deaf ears in major Western capitals with the latest policy adopted by Washington being another lopsided attempt at defaming China by discarding facts, progress and achievements and parroting discredited mantras on Xinjiang instead. The truth is that classical political maneuvering continues unabated.
Facts do not lie, however, with a total of 2.14 million market entities with an annual increase of 6.9 percent being witnessed in Xinjiang in 2021. This marks a sharp departure from the latest forced labor legislation agreed upon by the House of Representatives and the Senate in Washington DC.
"Congress, on a bipartisan and bicameral basis will continue to condemn and confront the Communist Party of China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang."
These were the words of House Speaker Nanci Pelosi reflecting a mindset where the United States will continue to promote controversial narratives on the region without any concrete evidence. The bill also provides a "rebuttal presumption" with all goods sourced from Xinjiang being tainted with forced labor allegations and will not be eligible for import to the United States. The fact is that this bill does not provide an iota of data to back such fallacies has meant that presumptions are the guiding course of action. It also seems as if the United States is adamant in diplomatically embarrassing itself once again.
What is being pursued instead is ideological warfare instead of policies on merit as from January to November 2021, 3,96,000 new market entities registered in Xinjiang with the local government implementing an array of measures aimed at reforming the region's commercial system. Hence, the forced labor narrative being championed by Washington must once again be lumped in with other adventurous streaks from the Biden administration such as diplomatically abstaining from the Beijing Winter Olympics and rallying major capitals such as London and Canberra to not send diplomats to the event. The bill being tabled however, considers it imperative that companies in Xinjiang must provide evidence of forced labor taking place in supply chain networks yet at the same time takes a massive step by actually terming the entire Xinjiang economy to be infested with forced labor and human rights abuses. This dichotomy is clear and it is unsurprising that such political stunts from the Untied States were met with denunciations from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin who had said that China is resolute in defending its national interests.
It was expected that the Biden administration would champion multilateralism and economic growth as a standard modus operandi after brazen unilateralism upended the international trade system under the previous Donald Trump administration. Conversely, however, bills lacking convincing evidence are upending the Biden administration's international image with extending an invitation to Taiwan to attend the democracy summit. Hence, policy lines adopted on Xinjiang must be viewed from a specific prism and nothing more than a systematic political campaign aimed at propping up sovereign subjects for political gain. Otherwise, robust economic growth in Xinjiang with programs aimed at poverty alleviation and employment generation would have featured in the United States strategic calculus but despite incontrovertible evidence, that has not been the case.
The truth is that curbing China's economic influence and rising profile is the only explanation of such political stunts as creating adversaries for ideological reasons has been the standard American mode of operation by both Democrat and Republican administrations with unsuccessful attempts at preventing China from becoming the second largest economy in the world being followed up with trust deficits and actions preventing diplomatic breakthroughs from materializing. The bill on Xinjiang coincides with important moots such as the G7 Summit, which indicate that hyping flawed notions of Chinese economic coercion is the standard procedure being adopted. Such irrefutable facts are further buttressed by expert analysis where scholars have considered the smear campaigns launched against China's Belt and Road Initiative and parroting claims of genocide in Xinjiang to be a part of a "combo of punches".
Sadly for the Biden administration and gratefully for the international community, such punches lack resonance across the globe with the majority of countries forging amiable, workable and normal trade relations with China of which Xinjiang remains a central component, not an issue to be discussed. Major capitals worldwide understand the significance of apolitical trade and have refrained from adopting policies which threaten China's sovereignty. Yet hegemonic approaches adopted by the United States points at a different direction, where camp politics is the norm. Sham verdicts and toxic bills are nothing but political maneuvering.
Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, and currently serves as assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan.
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