How Much Impact Does European "Mending Knife" Xinjiang Cotton Have On China'S Textile Industry?

"Forced labor = lies." In a flash, it is the end of 2020. Although trump does not admit losing the election, all kinds of signs show that his four-year tour of the White House is coming to an end, and he has become a "loser" in people's eyes.

In recent years, with the support of the trump government, including the use of "forced labor" as an excuse to crack down on the prevalence of Chinese industries in Europe and the United States, and it is becoming increasingly fierce. It is difficult to change the voluntary, independent and free employment nature of Xinjiang people and the brand image of Xinjiang cotton whether it is maliciously defamed by the United States or followed by Europe.

According to a number of industry figures and scholars, the so-called Xinjiang related content published by some people in Europe and the United States is full of mistakes and omissions, "some Western politicians and scholars have a 'imagined Xinjiang', but they turn a blind eye to the real Xinjiang.".

1. Europe and America claim that "forced labor exists in Xinjiang"

The European Parliament passed a radical resolution concerning Xinjiang on the 17th, claiming that there is a so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang, requiring European countries to sanction Xinjiang officials and boycott "forced labor" products such as cotton and cotton products from Xinjiang. In addition, the European Parliament also asked China to allow the European Parliament to send a delegation to Xinjiang, so that the latter can freely and unrestricted access to Xinjiang. However, according to media reports, the resolution is not legally binding.

With regard to the resolution, a spokesman for the Chinese mission to the European Union said on the 17th that the so-called "forced labor" and other issues are completely lies fabricated by some anti China people. The "manipulators" behind those people and their habitual methods are no secret. The EU has always been wary of false information, which is completely false information. "Workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang choose their occupations according to their wishes, and sign labor contracts with enterprises in accordance with the law on the principle of equality and voluntariness, and will not be discriminated against because of their different nationalities, genders and religious beliefs."

2. Xinjiang cotton is the victim of a strained relationship between the world's two largest economies

Xinjiang is the largest cotton production base in China. The cotton raw materials of domestic cotton spinning enterprises are mainly Xinjiang cotton, and then blended with American, Australian and Indian cotton. The textiles produced with Xinjiang cotton as raw materials are all over the country. Some international brand textiles also contain Xinjiang cotton. It can be said that Xinjiang cotton is the "cow nose" of China's cotton textile industry. The United States and Europe prohibit Xinjiang cotton, It is to crack down on China's textile industry in an all-round way.

As a matter of fact, Xinjiang cotton is only one side of Sino US relations and a victim of the tense relations between the two largest economies in the world. In the past two years, the trump administration has repeatedly suppressed Chinese enterprises and industries for such groundless reasons as "Chinese enterprises undermine the national security of the United States". The core is to prohibit them from cooperating with American enterprises in technology. The industries involve chip, mobile communication and other industries, even labor-intensive industries.

On May 15 last year, the United States listed Huawei in the so-called "entity list". On August 17, the United States upgraded the ban. U.S. Commerce Minister Ross said: the ban is to restrict Huawei from acquiring American technology through a third party. To put it in plain English: in the design and production of Huawei's mobile phone chips, whenever they contain "American genes", they will be subject to control. After the sanctions against Huawei, the United States blacklisted SMIC, China's largest chip manufacturer. If SMIC is completely sanctioned, it will seriously damage China's chip production capacity.

According to Russia today, trump signed an executive order on November 12 to prohibit any American investor from investing in companies associated with the Chinese military. The executive order will come into effect on January 11, next year.

The 31 enterprises include Huawei, Hikvision, Inspur Group, China Mobile, China Telecom, China aviation industry group, China Railway Construction Group, China shipbuilding industry group, Panda Electronics Group, etc.

Reuters: the trump administration has banned U.S. investment in companies linked to the Chinese military

Reuters said the move was the latest major policy move by U.S. President trump after his "election defeat," indicating that his government is seeking to use the rest of his term to crack down on China. Before the handover of power, the trump administration frequently announced the government of "restricting" Chinese enterprises in order to consolidate its tough China policy and create Anti China sentiment between the Congress and the two parties, forcing the incoming Democratic President Biden to continue to take a tough stand against China.

Previously, the U.S. Department of Commerce claimed that controlling the flow of U.S. technology to listed companies is "the key to protecting U.S. national security interests.". Its "key to protecting the national security interests of the United States" reveals the panic of the United States in the face of the threat from China, the second largest economy. However, this approach of sacrificing the development of various industries of the two countries is actually "lifting a stone and hitting its own feet". After decades of development, Sino US trade has become closer, and enterprises have long shared weal and woe 500 U.S. companies sued the trump Administration for illegally escalating Sino US trade disputes, which may also represent the attitude of the American people.

3. History of American Cotton Black

The United States and Europe banned cotton in Xinjiang under the pretext of "forced labor", 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 Cultivated Cotton in the American continent. With the increasing demand for raw cotton in European cotton textile industry, European colonists began to plant cotton in American plantations. Because the plantations required a lot of labor, Europeans transported millions of Africans to America and established a harsh slavery system.

After 1791, with Santo Domingo's withdrawal from the cotton market, as an alternative force for raw cotton supply, the cotton planting industry in the south of the United States began to rise.

Slave workers in the cotton plantations of the southern United States, C. 1860, library of Congress collection

After independence, the United States was able to get rid of the restrictions on the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and continued to use slaves to produce cotton. The warm southern states became the best cotton producing areas. Sven beckert, author of the cotton Empire and professor of history at Harvard University, said, "the rise of the American economy in the world is based on cotton, and it is also based on the spine of slavery."

Cotton fields and cabins in southern Georgia. Cotton is not a flower, but a dehiscent fruit, a mass of white fibers wrapped in seeds.

In the American plantations in the south before the war, most of the hard work of the slaves was dedicated to cotton, an important pillar of the world economy at that time. In the United States in the first half of the 19th century, the civil war broke out in April 1861, and the civil war also led to the collapse of slavery in the United States.

4. Cotton field management needs professional personnel, not just looking for labor

According to an enterprise with a cotton planting base in Xinjiang, most of the cotton picking has been completed by machines, which means that the management of cotton field needs extremely professional personnel, and it can not be done by "forced labor" casually. From a technical point of view, the content of this report is ridiculous.

According to the data of Xinjiang agricultural and rural department, in 2020, the sown area of cotton in Xinjiang will reach 24.1966 million mu, of which the mechanical cotton picking area will reach 16.8963 million mu, and the machine harvesting rate will account for 69.83% of the total cotton area. More than 90% of the cotton fields in the north of Xinjiang have been fully mechanized. Although the mechanization of cotton fields in Kashi and Aksu areas of Southern Xinjiang is in the initial stage, it has developed rapidly.

In the period of manual cotton picking, Xinjiang employed a large number of migrant workers to pick cotton. Tian Yun, an economist, said that before that, the main cotton pickers in Xinjiang were workers from major labor exporting provinces such as Sichuan and Chongqing. It is a seasonal job that many people want to engage in. It is also understood that previously, China often added special trains to transport the "cotton picking army" to Xinjiang.

5. Xinjiang released report: there is no so-called "large-scale forced labor"

Recently, some Western Anti China politicians and think tanks have frequently published reports claiming that "there is a large-scale forced labor" in Xinjiang, in order to slander China's policy of governing Xinjiang, the Xinjiang Development Research Center has released the survey report on the employment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Through in-depth investigation and rigorous argumentation, it is concluded that there is no such phenomenon as "large-scale forced labor" in Xinjiang. The report points out that the labor and employment of ethnic minorities shows obvious voluntary, autonomous and free nature. The governments at all levels in Xinjiang attach great importance to the employment problem and do everything possible to help the minority people achieve full employment and achieve the maximum decent work.

The investigation group has discussed with the human resources and Social Security Department of the autonomous region and learned that in recent years, various industries in the four prefectures of Southern Xinjiang have developed rapidly, but they still can not meet the employment needs of the local people. More and more urban and rural surplus labor force has turned their attention to northern Xinjiang cities and inland developed provinces and cities with higher wages, better working conditions and better living environment.

With regard to the high employment enthusiasm of the masses, the governments at all levels in Xinjiang have actively implemented the employment priority policy, made every effort to expand employment, and helped the minority people to achieve full employment. Xinjiang has constructed and strictly implemented the labor and employment security laws and regulations system, and defined the basic rights and security measures of workers of all ethnic groups.

6. Ministry of Foreign Affairs: there is no factual basis for the defamation of relevant institutions on Xinjiang related issues

At a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 18th, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman, said that there is no factual basis for the prejudice and defamation of China by relevant organizations on Xinjiang related issues. China's position on Xinjiang related issues has been understood and supported by people of insight in the international community and most countries. This is a strong response to those who are biased against China and maliciously discredit China on issues related to Xinjiang.

"I often feel ridiculous when I see all kinds of arguments concocted by people who don't know much about Xinjiang." Cao Wei, executive director of the national security research center of the school of politics and international relations of Lanzhou University, asked, "how many of these so-called experts and politicians have actually talked to the workers in Xinjiang? Have they asked whether these workers come to work voluntarily or are they forced to make money?"

Cao Wei believes that the purpose of fabricating various false reports related to Xinjiang overseas is to throw dirty water on China's strategy of governing Xinjiang, and become a weapon for some anti china forces in Europe and the United States to attack China under the guise of "human rights", so as to achieve the purpose of "using Xinjiang to control China".