Reports of atrocities in the Uyghur region are now resulting in more concrete action abroad. Still, by the general public, the situation is still seen as happening in a distant place, far away from home. In fact, there are many strings running from Xianyiang to the rest of the world, making this connection, however unfortunate, easy and sometimes even unavoidable to make. As a result of China’s status as the world’s number one cotton producer and as much as 84% of Chinese cotton production originating from the region, the product of forced labour literally ends up as clothing in our closet, decoration in our homes and, in the form of face masks, even on our faces.

By Dianne Kok

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