Uighur protections bill passes House amid partisan division on China policy

The Democrat-led House Wednesday passed on partisan lines a bill that would force companies to disclose their business transactions with manufacturers located in Xinjiang, a Chinese province where the communist government has interned more than 1 million Uighur Muslims.

The bill, the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act, proved divisive even as both chambers of Congress and President Trump push for stronger trade restrictions on China following reported abuses of religious minorities. Democrats, arguing in the bill’s favor, said that it would make it more difficult for people to import products from Xinjiang. Republicans, meanwhile, accused its sponsors of using Uighur rights as a talking point for the upcoming elections.