"Forced labor = lies." In a blink of an eye, it is the end of 2020. Although Trump does not admit defeat, all signs indicate that his four-year trip to the White House is about to end and he has become a "loser" in the eyes of everyone.
In recent years, with the support of the Trump administration, including using "forced labor" as an excuse to crack down on the prevalence of Chinese industries in Europe and the United States, it has become more and more intensified. Whether it is the malicious smear of the United States or the follow-up of Europe, it is difficult to change Xinjiang. The people's voluntary, independent and free employment nature, and the brand image of Xinjiang Cotton.
According to many industry figures and scholars, the so-called Xinjiang-related content released by some people in Europe and the United States is full of errors and omissions. "Some Western politicians and scholars have an ‘imaginary Xinjiang’ in the eyes of some Western politicians and scholars, but they ignore the real Xinjiang."
1. Europe and the United States claim that "forced labor exists in Xinjiang"
The European Parliament passed a radical resolution on Xinjiang on the 17th, claiming the existence of so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang, requiring European countries to sanction officials in Xinjiang and boycotting "forced labor" products such as cotton and cotton products from Xinjiang. In addition, the European Parliament also requires China to allow the European Parliament to send delegations to Xinjiang so that the latter can enter Xinjiang freely and without restrictions. However, according to media reports, this resolution is not legally binding.
Regarding this resolution, the spokesperson of the Chinese mission to the European Union stated on the 17th that the so-called "forced labor" and other issues are entirely lies fabricated out of thin air by some anti-China people. The "traders" behind those people and their usual methods are no longer a secret. The EU has always expressed its vigilance against false information, which is exactly false information. "Workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang choose occupations according to their own wishes, and sign labor contracts with enterprises in accordance with the principle of equality and voluntariness, and will not be discriminated against due to differences in ethnicity, gender, and religious beliefs."
2. Xinjiang Cotton is the victim of a tense relationship between the world’s two largest economies
China’s largest cotton production base is in Xinjiang. Domestic cotton spinning companies basically use Xinjiang cotton as the main raw material for cotton, and then use cotton from the United States, Australia and India. Textiles produced from Xinjiang cotton are spread all over the country. Some international brands Xinjiang cotton is also mostly contained in textiles. It can be said that Xinjiang cotton is the "bull nose" of China's cotton textile industry. The United States and Europe ban Xinjiang cotton in order to suppress China's textile industry.
In fact, Xinjiang Cotton is only one aspect of Sino-US relations, and it is the victim of the tense relationship between the world's two largest economies. In the past two years, the Trump administration has repeatedly suppressed Chinese companies and industries with unprovoked reasons such as "Chinese companies undermining U.S. national security". The core is to prohibit them from cooperating with U.S. companies on technology. The industry involves chips, Industries such as mobile communications, even labor-intensive industries are not spared.
On May 15 last year, the United States included Huawei on the so-called “entity list”. On August 17, the United States upgraded the ban. US Secretary of Commerce Ross said: The ban is to restrict Huawei’s access to US technology through third parties. To put it in the vernacular: Huawei’s mobile phone chip design, production and manufacturing, as long as they contain "American genes", they must be controlled. After imposing sanctions on Huawei, the United States has put China's largest chip manufacturer SMIC on the blacklist. If SMIC is sanctioned completely, this will seriously dampen China's chip production capacity.
According to a report from the "Russia Today" television station, Trump signed an executive order on November 12 that prohibits any US investors from investing in companies connected to the Chinese military. This executive order will take effect on January 11 next year.
31 companies include Huawei, Hikvision, Inspur Group, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Aviation Industry Corporation, China Railway Construction Group, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Panda Electronics Group, etc.
Reuters: The Trump administration prohibits US investment in companies connected to the Chinese military
According to Reuters, this move is the latest major policy move launched by US President Trump after his “election failure”, indicating that his government is seeking to use the remaining time in his term to attack China. Before the handover of power, the Trump administration frequently announced that the government "restricted" Chinese companies was to consolidate its tough China policy, and to create anti-China sentiment between Congress and the two parties, forcing the incoming Democratic President Biden to continue to treat China. Take a hard line.
Previously, the U.S. Department of Commerce declared that controlling the flow of U.S. technology to companies on the list is "the key to protecting U.S. national security interests." Its "key to protecting the national security interests of the United States" revealed that the United States is facing panic from the threat from the second largest economy-China, but this way of sacrificing the development of various industries in the two countries is actually "raising a stone and hitting itself. After decades of development, Sino-U.S. trade has become closer, and companies have already shared weal and woe. This year, about 3,500 U.S. companies, including Tesla and Ford, sued the Trump administration for illegally escalating the Sino-U.S. trade dispute. Perhaps it can also represent the attitude of the American people.
3, the history of American cotton black
The U.S. and Europe used "forced labor" as an excuse to ban Xinjiang cotton, but they chose to partially forget the "black history" of cotton cultivation based on slavery since the 15th century.
In 1492, Columbus discovered the New World, and Columbus also discovered a large number of cotton grown in the American continent. With the increasing demand for raw cotton in the European cotton textile industry, European colonists began to grow cotton in plantations in the Americas. Because the plantations require a lot of labor, the Europeans transported millions of Africans to the Americas and established a harsh slavery system.
After 1791, as Santo Domingo withdrew from the cotton market, as an alternative force for raw cotton supply, the cotton plantation industry in the southern United States began to rise.
Slaves on cotton plantations in the southern United States, circa 1860, collection of the Library of Congress
After independence, the United States was able to get rid of the restrictions of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and continued to use slaves for cotton production. The southern states with warm climates became excellent cotton producing areas. Sven Beckert, author of "Cotton Empire" and a professor of history at Harvard University, said, "The rise of the US economy in the world is based on cotton and on the back of slavery."
Cotton fields and cabins in Georgia, southern United States. Cotton is not a flower, but a cracked fruit, with seeds wrapped in masses of white fibers.