DEAR EDITOR:

Information for this letter comes from websites about what is taking place in China. Since what we buy mostly comes from China, slave labor and genocide have to stop.

The Turkic Muslims, called Uyghurs, live in the Xinjiang region of China. They are one of a number of persecuted minorities. China forces these people to camps for cultural ethnic cleansing and reprogramming, then forces them into factories. The slave factories are used for a number of popular company products. Nike is one example.

Nike outsources many of its products and parts in China. The Washington Post has reported that hundreds of workers at Qingdao Taekwang Shoes Co., a Nike supplier for more than 30 years and one of the American brand’s largest factories, are not there by choice. Rather, the Post reported they are ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region, sent here by local authorities to toil far from home.

The work of slave labor was investigated and all this went to our Congress, in the Uyghur Forced Prevention Labor Act. The 6210 bill was voted for (406-3) in September 2020. Still waiting for the Senate to get this passed also. If the bill becomes law, restrictions will be imposed in China and sanctions against those responsible for the crimes. In the meantime, Nike and other large corporations are lobbying to weaken this bill.

The Chinese Communist Party is clearly creating social injustice, mainly racial injustice. We do not want this to take place in America, but we also do not want a double standard. Do LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Colin Kaepernick and all the other professional players know what is going on in China? I believe they do, but they still sign their million-dollar Nike contracts. They are strongly against the injustice in our country, but don’t seem to care very much about injustice in China.

Please send emails to our senators, and also try not to buy items made in China for many other reasons. We need jobs back to our country.

GARY SCURTI

Youngstown