On August 20, the U.S. government posted online that the U.S. had added three more Chinese companies to a list that bars imports from firms allegedly involved with Uyghur forced labor in China. With those additions, 68 companies now appear on the so-called entity list of firms that the U.S. government says participate in forced labor programs, nearly double the number at the beginning of the year. “Through these actions, DHS is increasing its focus on seafood, aluminum, and shoes—sectors that play an important role in Xinjiang’s economy—and ensuring goods made with forced labor are kept out of the U.S. market,” the department said.
In response, Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu called allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang “nothing but an egregious lie propagated by anti-China forces and a tool for U.S. politicians to destabilize Xinjiang and contain China’s development.” Referring to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, he added: “It not only severely infringes on the human rights of people in Xinjiang but also destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and sabotages international trade rules.”
Not to be overlooked is that the U.S. is banning seafood in Xinjiang. Given that Xinjiang is an ocean of sand with no sea in sight, one might ask, how is that possible? The answer lies in Chinese science and creativity. In August 2023, responding to growing worries, China banned all Japanese aquatic products, in response to the release of (inoffensive radioactive) wastewater from Fukushima, wrecked by the March 11, 2011 tsunami. As a result increasing domestic production became an objective.
While Xinjiang is traditionally famous for its fruit production, notably Hami melons, Korla pears, and tomatoes, China established seafood production in Xinjiang as a “role model example” to “modernize agriculture” and “provide security for the supply of agricultural products” in “a global food market that has been hit by geopolitical tensions, climate change and the war in Ukraine.”
Already before, Xinjiang was one of the seven locations dedicated as pilot areas for producing saline-alkali tolerant rice—better known as seawater rice—to increase crop output. Fish farms in Xinjiang previously produced freshwater seafood, as companies benefit from the water supply from its high-altitude lakes, which are fed by melting snow from its mountainous areas. In this new context, and with the help of scientists, Xinjiang firms succeeded in a pilot project to develop technology to simulate seawater in its fishery located on the edge of a desert. They make use of the saline-alkaline land and adjust the level of probiotics and other micronutrients. As a result, seawater aquafarming expanded, including freshwater fish, king prawn, abalone and lobsters.
China has long been the world’s largest seafood producer and it accounts for at least 18 percent of seafood caught globally, according to the United Nations. The Xinjiang government is aiming by next year to increase its annual output of aquatic products to around 30,000 tons, and China overall is aiming to lift its aquatic production to 69 million tons.
