Economic diplomacy and genocide in Xinjiang

Hendrix, Cullen and Noland, Marcus (2021): Economic diplomacy and genocide in Xinjiang. Published in: Asia Pacific Issues No. 150 (November 2021): pp. 1-8.

Abstract

The government of China is engaged in a systematic campaign to eradicate culturally, if not physically, the Uyghur Muslim minority of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The US State Department characterizes this policy as “genocide,” documenting an extensive list of continuing abuses against Uyghurs and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups. Having made this assessment, the issue is then what is to be done? How can economic diplomacy be brought to bear to ensure foreign consumers are not unwitting accomplices to these abuses, including the use of forced labor, and how can those same policy tools can be used name, shame, and try to change behavior of the world’s largest exporter? A multifaceted response is required, combining targeted economic sanctions, coordinated responses to refugees fleeing Xinjiang, private industry-led initiatives, and more symbolic acts including a boycott of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: sanctions; China; Xinjiang; forced labor; genocide; human rights; Olympics
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy > F51 - International Conflicts ; Negotiations ; Sanctions; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J47 - Coercive Labor Markets; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J8 - Labor Standards: National and International

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