Testimony from parliamentary inquiries and other evidence shows that top Thai officials secretly decided to hand a group of Uyghur detainees over to China while denying plans to do so in public, giving the detainees and their advocates no chance to make a last-ditch appeal before they were bundled off and sent back to a country where where U.N. experts say they could face torture or other punishment.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected accusations from Beijing that his country is “plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes” after an Australian diplomat led a group of Western nations in renewing concerns about human rights violations in China.

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener.

China's Commerce Ministry says it will investigate the fashion company PVH, which owns brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, for suspected violations of trade rules.

A report released by Human Rights Watch says authorities in China’s western Xinjiang region have been systematically replacing the names of villages inhabited by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities to reflect the ruling Communist Party’s ideology.

A Senate inquiry has found BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen have bought parts made by a Chinese company sanctioned under a 2021 law for using forced labor.

Philippine trade officials say they have received assurances that the United States will address their concerns after American authorities held up shipments of garments on suspicion that cotton was produced by forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.

Aftershocks from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake continue to rock western China.

A report by Human Rights Watch says the Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities.

The State Department in a first-of-its-kind report has laid out Beijing’s growing efforts to reshape the global narrative on China, while spending billions of dollars to do so.

A human rights foundation says a prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison in China.

The Group of Seven wealthy democracies have urged China to push Russia to end its war on Ukraine.

A British judge has rejected a lawsuit that accused the U.K. government of allowing the import of cotton products associated with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.

A Uyghur organization and a human rights group are taking the U.K. government to court to challenge Britain’s failure to block the import of cotton products associated with forced labor and other abuses in China’s far western Xinjiang region.

In a close diplomatic victory for China, the U.N.’s top human rights body has voted down a proposal from Britain, Turkey, the United States and other mostly Western countries to hold a debate on alleged rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region.

Sprawling Xinjiang is the latest Chinese region to be hit with sweeping COVID-19 travel restrictions, as China further ratchets up control measures ahead of a key Communist Party congress later this month.

Western countries are leading a simultaneous push at the U.N.’s top human rights body to scrutinize human rights in two of the world’s most influential countries: China and Russia.

An envoy from China’s Xinjiang province says Chinese authorities are ready for a “fight” with “anti-China” critics in the West and elsewhere over allegations of rights abuses in the anti-extremism campaign against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in the region.

A Chinese-born Kazakh activist is preparing to register a political party in Kazakhstan to counter Beijing's growing influence in the region.

Residents of a city in China’s far western Xinjiang region say they are experiencing hunger, forced quarantines and dwindling supplies of medicine and daily necessities after more than 40 days in a virus lockdown.

The U.N.’s long-delayed report on mass detentions and other rights abuses against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in China's far-western Xinjiang region has been welcomed by survivors as an acknowledgement of abuses they say they faced at the hands of the Chinese state.

China is responding furiously to a United Nations report on alleged human rights abuses in its northwestern Xinjiang region targeting Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities.

The U.N. accused China of serious human rights violations that may amount to “crimes against humanity” in a long-delayed report examining a crackdown on Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups.

A long-awaited report from the U.N. human rights office says China’s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.

The top U.N. human rights official says she raised concerns with Chinese officials about the impact of counterterrorism and deradicalization measures on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups in China’s Xinjiang region.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has defended China’s record to the top U.N. human rights official, criticizing countries that he said lecture others on human rights and politicize the issue.

China says the U.S.

For two weeks and more at daily news briefings, China’s stance on questions about its politics and policies has been straightforward: It’s the Olympics, and we’re not talking about these things.

An annual report from the United Nations labor agency has highlighted the work conditions of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region.

Facing international criticism over it treatment of minorities, China’s selection of a member of the Uyghur Muslim group to help deliver the Olympic flame was a show of defiance, a message from Communist authorities that they won’t be swayed.

At the age of 17, Kamaltürk Yalqun was chosen to help carry the Olympic flame ahead of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

From the crushing of Beijing’s 1989 pro-democracy protests to the suppression of Hong Kong’s opposition four decades later, China’s Communist Party has demonstrated a determination and ability to stay in power that is seemingly impervious to Western criticism.

American activists are appealing to Tesla Inc. to close a new showroom in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, where officials are accused of abuses against mostly Muslim ethnic minorities.

President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law to block imports from China's Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove the items were made without using forced labor.

Intel Corp. has apologized for asking suppliers to avoid sourcing goods from Xinjiang after the chipmaker became the latest foreign brand attacked by state media over the region where authorities are accused of widespread abuses.

China has announced sanctions on four members of the U.S. government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom in retaliation for penalties imposed on Chinese officials over complaints of abuses in the country’s northwestern Xinjiang region.

China says it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its institutions and enterprises after the U.S. Senate passed a new law barring imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labor.

The Senate has given final approval to a bill barring all imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labor.

An independent and unofficial body set up by a prominent British barrister to assess evidence on China’s alleged rights abuses against the Uyghur people has concluded that the Chinese government committed genocide and crimes against humanity.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says it has compiled evidence of increasing government repression against Uyghur Muslims in China's western Xinjiang region.

Chinese and Russian military forces are engaged in joint exercises in northwestern China as ties grow between the two autocratic states amid uncertainty over the instability in Afghanistan.

A popular Chinese-Canadian singer, Kris Wu, has lost endorsement deals for at least 10 brands including Porsche and Bulgari after a teen-ager accused him of having sex with her while she was drunk.

China says it will take necessary measures to respond to the U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies over their alleged role in abuses of its Uyghur people and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met virtually with a group of Uyghur Muslims who were detained at camps in China's northwest Xinjiang region.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into alleged involvement in crimes against humanity based on claims that global retailers rely on forced labor in China.

China has criticized U.S. curbs on imports of solar panel materials that might be made with forced labor as an attack on its development and said Beijing will protect Chinese companies, but gave no details of possible retaliation.

The Biden administration says a Chinese company that produces a key ingredient in solar panels will be barred from the U.S. market as part of a broader effort to halt commerce tied to the country’s repressive campaign against Uyghurs and other minorities.

Three Uyghurs who fled from China to Turkey have described forced abortions and torture by Chinese authorities in China’s far western Xinjiang region.

The Associated Press has found that videos of ethnic Uyghurs filming themselves denying human rights abuses are part of a Chinese government campaign that raises questions about the willingness of the participants.

A human rights group is appealing to the United Nations to investigate allegations China’s government is committing crimes against humanity in the Xinjiang region.

A top Chinese diplomat has called U.S. policy on China “too negative,” saying it highlights confrontation over cooperation.

A former education official and a former legal official in Xinjiang have been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in the latest national security cases China has brought against bureaucrats it accuses of trying to split the country.

Chinese regulators say H&M has agreed to change a “problematic map” online following government criticism, adding to pressure on the Swedish retailer amid a conflict with Western governments over China's policies in its Xinjiang region.

China stepped up pressure Monday on foreign shoe and clothing brands to reject reports of abuses in Xinjiang, telling companies that are targeted by Beijing for boycotts to look more closely and pointing to a statement by one that it found no forced labor. H&M, Nike, Adidas and other brands are caught in a conflict over Xinjiang after Western governments imposed sanctions on officials accused of abuses. State media called for a boycott of H&M for saying it would no longer use cotton from Xinjiang and are criticizing other brands for expressing concern about reports of forced labor. Official media have criticized Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo and Burberry for expressing concern about reports of forced labor in Xinjiang. Most comply because China is one of the biggest, fastest-growing markets for global fashion, electronics and other consumer brands.

(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)BEIJING – China announced new sanctions against U.S. and Canadian officials in a growing political and economic feud over its policies in the traditionally Muslim region of Xinjiang. The commission's vice chair, Tony Perkins, was also included on the sanctions list, along with Canadian Member of Parliament Michael Chong and the body’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights. China announced sanctions Friday against British officials and H&M products were dropped from Chinese websites over their opposition to buying cotton from Xinjiang. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the sanctions “baseless" retaliation for U.S. measures against Chinese officials. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said China’s decision to sanction an opposition Conservative lawmaker as well as a parliamentary subcommittee is an attack on freedom of speech regarding human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

H&M disappeared from the internet in China as the government raised pressure on shoe and clothing brands and announced sanctions Friday against British officials in a spiraling fight over complaints of abuses in the Xinjiang region. State media accused H&M and other brands of improperly profiting from China while criticizing it. South Korean athletic shoe brand FILA said Friday the company buys cotton from Xinjiang and will keep doing so. AdH&M's announcement last year that it no longer would use Xinjiang cotton cited the BCI's move to stop licensing cotton from the region because it was difficult to trace how it was produced. It was unclear why the party targeted H&M, whose expression of concern about Xinjiang was similar to that of other companies.

Residents wearing masks pass by government propaganda with slogans some of which read "Forever follow the Party" and "China's Ethnicities One Family" in the city of Aksu in western China's Xinjiang region on Thursday, March 18, 2021. China on Friday announced sanctions on British individuals and entities following the U.K.'s joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING – China slapped sanctions on several British politicians and organizations Friday after the U.K. joined the European Union and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. China has rejected all criticism over its policies in Xinjiang, along with its crackdown on opposition figures in Hong Kong and threats against Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy China claims as its own territory. Cotton and other agricultural products form a major component of the local economy in vast but thinly populated Xinjiang.

A protester from the Uyghur community living in Turkey waves a Turkish flag during a protest against the visit of China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Turkey, in Istanbul, Thursday, March 25, 2021. Dozens of Uyghurs, Turkish opposition lawmakers and academics also assembled near the Chinese Embassy in Ankara, as Wang met with Turkish Foreign Mevlut Cavusoglu and later with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We call on Turkey to stand with East Turkestan,” said Burhan Uluyol, who joined the protest in Istanbul. AdUyghurs, a Turkic group native to China’s Xinjiang region, have sought refuge in Turkey for decades because of their shared cultural ties with the country. Both Turkish and Chinese authorities insist that the extradition bill doesn't aim to target Uyghurs for deportation.

The companies, under pressure from activists, have tried to distance themselves from reports of forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. It also said it conducted an inquiry at its factories to make sure they were not using any forced labor from Xinjiang. AdNIKEThe sportswear brand says on its website that it was “concerned about reports of forced labor” connected to Xinjiang. No UNIQLO product is manufactured in the Xinjiang region.” The company also said that no Uniqlo production partners subcontract to fabric mills or spinning mills in the region. Adidas said it found no cases of forced labor on farms participating in that initiative.

AdBeijing often attacks foreign clothing, auto, travel and other brands for actions by their governments or to pressure companies to conform to its official positions on Taiwan, Tibet and other sensitive issues. Western brands face pressure at home to distance themselves from possible abuses. AdThe Global Times said Burberry, Adidas, Nike and New Balance also made “cutting remarks” about Xinjiang cotton. In January, Washington imposed a ban on imports of cotton from Xinjiang, a major supplier to clothing producers for Western markets. Comments on the internet cited clothing brands Uniqlo of Japan and The Gap of the United States as other possible offenders.

On Monday, that image shattered when the European Union joined Washington, Britain and Canada in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials over accusations they abused ethnic minorities. Earlier proposals to criticize China's human rights record were vetoed by Hungary and Greece, possibly to avoid disrupting trade and investment ties. Relations with Canada have been strained by the arrest of an executive of tech giant Huawei on U.S. charges related to possible violation of trade sanctions on Iran. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday there was no connection between Canada’s support for the Xinjiang sanctions and those cases. “We understand that we must work together to demonstrate our intolerance in the face of human rights abuses,” Trudeau told broadcaster CTV.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 22, 2021. (Aris Oikonomou, Pool via AP)BEIJING – China on Tuesday said it summoned foreign diplomats in protest after the United States, the European Union, Canada and Britain jointly imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in China’s far western Xinjiang region. That came hours after the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers denounced a new wave of criticism and sanctions against both countries over human rights. “These measures will not be embraced by the international community.”Russia is also under Western sanctions over human rights abuses and military aggression against Ukraine. The Australian and New Zealand governments reiterated their grave concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Airbnb Inc. is being asked to drop its sponsorship connections to 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics by a coalition of 150 human-rights campaigners. The coalition is headed by groups that oppose rights violations in China including widely reported genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. The coalition is headed by groups that oppose rights violations in China including the detention of Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. Ad“Airbnb is also glossing over China’s horrifying human rights record and normalizing to the public what is recognized under international law as a deeply restrictive environment," the letter said. Ad“China firmly rejects the politicization of sports and opposes using human rights issues to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said earlier this month.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks to the media prior to a meeting of the European Foreign Affairs Ministers, at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Monday, March 22, 2021. The EU targeted four senior officials in Xinjiang. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the measures were part of “intensive diplomacy” by the U.K, the United States, Canada and the 27-nation EU to force action amid mounting evidence about serious rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim people. Officials deny all charges of human rights abuses there. AdChina’s Foreign Ministry denounced the EU sanctions as “based on nothing but lies and disinformation” as it issued its own retaliatory measures.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)In one corner are the 15 leading Olympic sponsors, many household names like Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Visa, Toyota, Samsung and General Electric. They have branded these the “Genocide Games” and are pressuring sponsors, the IOC and world sports federations to investigate. AdThousands of Olympic athletes are caught in the middle. “Once again athletes are being used as pawns,” said Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete, an advocacy group for Olympic athletes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded to Blinken: "The most important thing should be repeated three times: China has no genocide; China has no genocide; China has no genocide, period.”AdPolak pointed out that the United Nations Genocide Convention spells out much of the behavior taking place in China.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the U.S. Monday to lift restrictions on trade and people-to-people contacts while ceasing what Beijing considers unwarranted interference in the areas of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING – China's top diplomat called Monday for new U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to lift restrictions on trade and people-to-people contacts while ceasing what Beijing considers unwarranted interference in the areas of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet. Ad“We know that the new U.S. administration is reviewing and assessing its foreign policy," Wang told diplomats, scholars and journalists at the Lanting Forum. As is standard in Chinese foreign policy, Wang put the onus for improving relations squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. and offered no direct proposals for major breakthroughs, even while encouraging increased dialogue. Wang said China has “no intention to challenge or replace the United States" and is ready to peacefully coexist and seek common development.

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2018, file photo, American flags are displayed together with Chinese flags on top of a trishaw in Beijing. The two statements reaffirmed the different positions of the countries, which have clashed on issues from trade to Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong to increased U.S. support for self-ruled democratic Taiwan. Yang had struck a positive tone when he spoke earlier this week to the influential U.S. National Committee on United States-China Relations. Yang, in response, emphasized that the international community should create a good external environment for the proper settlement of the Myanmar issue. China has invested billions of dollars in Myanmar mines, oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure and is its biggest trading partner.

Organizer Nick Vetch said Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, a eight-member panel who will act as jury has been finalized. The panel has been selected to represent diverse backgrounds and no expert on China was included on purpose, Vetch said. In declaring genocide, Pompeo cited widespread forced birth control and forced labor among Uighurs. China denies any abuses and insists that the steps it has taken are necessary to combat terrorism and a separatist movement. AdVetch said the tribunal has written to the former and current Chinese ambassadors to London to request the Chinese government’s presence and cooperation, but so far received no response.

Xu accused Pompeo on Monday of trying to undermine Beijing's relations with President Joe Biden by declaring China's actions against the Uighur ethnic group a "genocide." China denies any abuses and says the steps it has taken are necessary to combat terrorism and a separatist movement. AdThe Biden administration is formulating its policies toward China, which many analysts see as America's largest geopolitical challenge. Asked about OFILM, Xinjiang government spokesperson Elijan Anayat said that workers were employed voluntarily and that their labor rights were protected. However, satellite imagery and interviews with former Xinjiang residents indicate that the region’s vast detention apparatus remains in place.

FILE - In this April 14, 2016 file photo, a Chinese national flag flutters against the office buildings in Shanghai, China. Twitter locked Chinas U.S. Embassy account because of a tweet in support of Chinas policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang, The tweet on Jan. 7, 2021 says Uygur women in Xinjiang have been emancipated and are no longer baby making machines. Twitter said it removed the tweet because it violates its policy on dehumanization. In order to unlock the account, the embassy will have to delete the tweet. The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to a request for comment.

The accusation of genocide by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against China touches on a hot-button human rights issue between China and the West. Pompeo’s announcement Tuesday doesn’t require any immediate actions, although the U.S. must take the designation into account in formulating policy toward China. China says its policies in Xinjiang aim only to promote economic growth and social stability. “So hopefully we’ll see a continued continuity with regards to the new (Joe Biden) administration on holding China to account," Leibold said in an interview. “And hopefully the Biden administration can bring its allies along to continue to put pressure on the Chinese government," he said.

I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state." A main reason cited for the declaration of genocide was widespread forced birth control among the Uighurs, which The Associated Press documented last year. China says its policies in Xinjiang aim only to promote economic and social development in the region and stamp out radicalism. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell designated the situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region a genocide in 2004. “The Secretary’s statement underscores the importance of appropriate international investigations and prosecutions of officials for the crime of genocide in Xinjiang,” said Eric Schwartz, the president of Refugees International.

LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly avoided a defeat in Parliament on Tuesday after lawmakers voted against a controversial proposal seeking to bar trade deals with any country deemed by the U.K. High Court to be committing genocide. The amendment to the government’s post-Brexit trade bill was largely designed to force international action in addressing China’s alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in the far western Xinjiang region. If the court makes a preliminary ruling against that country, Britain’s government would be forced to revoke bilateral trade agreements. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last week called the trade bill amendment “well-meaning” but ineffective and counter-productive. Johnson’s office said his government had a “proud record” standing up for human rights in China.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING – China on Thursday said a U.S. order to halt imports of cotton and tomatoes from its Xinjiang region over alleged human rights abuses will disrupt global supply chains and harm businesses and consumers. “The so-called forced labor issue is a lie of the century fabricated out of thin air," Zhao said at a daily briefing. Uighur forced labor has been linked by reporting by The Associated Press to various products imported to the U.S., including clothing and electronic goods such as cameras and computer monitors. Canada and Britain both recently said they too would take steps to stop goods tainted by forced labor from entering their countries. Estimates say the U.S. ban affects about 20% of the global cotton supply.

Officials said Customs and Border Protection will use its authority to block products suspected of being produced with forced labor to keep out cotton, tomatoes and related products from the Xinjiang region of northwest China. That is especially true with Chinese cotton that is used to make clothing for export in other countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. The U.S. imported about $9 billion worth of cotton goods from China overall last year, according to Brenda Smith, the executive assistant commissioner at Customs and Border Protection's Office of Trade. China denies allegations of rights abuses and forced labor, saying it aims only to promote economic and social development in the region and stamp out radicalism. "The so-called forced labor is nothing but a lie fabricated by certain institutions and individuals in Western countries," he said.

The Chinese official on Monday denied Beijing has imposed coercive birth control measures among Muslim minority women, following an outcry over a tweet by the Chinese Embassy in Washington claiming that government polices had freed women of the Uighur ethnic group from being "baby-making machines." As a result, the birth rate in Xinjiang’s minority regions plummeted by over 60% in just three years, even as Beijing eases birth restrictions on the Han population ahead of a looming demographic crisis. Twitter took down the Chinese Embassy's Jan. 7 tweet following protests by groups that accuse Beijing of seeking to eradicate Uighur culture. The tweet cited a study by Li Xiaoxia, a Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences researcher who has asserted that the birth control measures in Xinjiang are voluntary. Li’s papers in past years laid the theoretical foundations for justifying mass birth control measures.

Xu Guixiang, the deputy director-general of the Xinjiang Communist Party publicity department, speaks during an interview in Beijing Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. The Chinese Communist Party official signaled Monday that there would likely be no let-up in its crackdown in the Xinjiang region, but said the government's focus is shifting more to addressing the roots of extremism. “We cannot be complacent at this moment, because the threats are still out there,” Xu Guixiang, the deputy director-general of the Xinjiang Communist Party publicity department, said in an interview with The Associated Press in Beijing. Activists accuse China of mass detentions, forced labor, forced birth control and wiping out the Uighur (pronounced WEE-gur) language and culture. China built up an intensive police state in Xinjiang after a series of attacks in the region and elsewhere.

(AP Photo/Channi Anand)NEW DELHI — India has reported 48,648 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend in infections even as the country’s caseload has crossed 8 million and is only behind the U.S. The country confirmed 808 new cases on Thursday, bringing the cumulative COVID-19 cases to 100,334, including 712 cases found on a cruise ship earlier this year, according to the ministry figures. About one-third of the cases come from Tokyo, where 221 cases were confirmed Thursday, bringing a prefectural total to 30,677, with 453 deaths. Italy added a record number of new confirmed cases Thursday at more than 26,000. ___LONDON — The World Health Organization says Europe had a record 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the last week and has reached 10 million of the 44 million global cases.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING — Officials in the northwestern China region of Xinjiang say they believe they have contained the country’s latest coronavirus outbreak. It was the second consecutive day in which newly confirmed cases emerged entirely among such people. — Belgium and Czech Republic top Europe’s highest number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 citizens, ahead of hotbeds France and Spain. ___MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota health officials are warning against traditional Halloween festivities amid the recent rise in coronavirus cases statewide. Italy has nearly 590,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 38,000 deaths, the second highest in Europe after Britain.

A coalition of human-rights groups has met with the International Olympic Committee over calls to pull the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing. That was a constant theme at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Beijing wound up with the 2022 Winter Olympics almost by accident. The 2008 Olympics were supposed to change China. “In 2008 the international community strongly believed that bringing the Olympics to China would open up China,” Arkin said.

WASHINGTON – A shipment of women’s gloves at a California port has been traced to a factory that uses forced labor of people caught up in a brutal crackdown on ethnic minorities in China, U.S. authorities said Thursday. Overland, a retailer based in Fairfield, Iowa, was seeking to import the gloves and says it has provided proof to Customs that the goods were not made with forced labor and should be released. The administration, which has clashed with China on a range of issues, including trade and the coronavirus outbreak, has also increased enforcement of a U.S. law that bans the importation of goods made with forced labor. Labor and human rights groups say it's impossible to conduct legitimate inspections in Xinjiang because of the oppressive conditions. A bipartisan bill that would declare that all goods manufactured in Xinjiang are the product of forced labor, and therefore banned from the country, passed overwhelmingly last month in the House of Representatives.

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, people line up at the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center at the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. The Associated Press has found that the Chinese government is carrying out a birth control program aimed at Uighurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Chinas repression in Tibet, the status of the exiled Dali Lama, and its treatment of ethnic minorities spurred violent protests ahead of Beijings 2008 Olympics. China is host to the 2022 Winter Olympics with rumblings of a boycott and calls to remove the games from Beijing because of widespread human rights violations. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)WASHINGTON – For the second time in two weeks, the House on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at cracking down on U.S. imports of goods made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China. Its passage follows approval last week of a bill aimed at barring U.S. imports of goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China on the presumption that they were likely made with forced labor. “If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech last week. While the U.S. has long banned imports made with forced labor, traditional human rights monitoring efforts are thwarted in tightly controlled regions such as in northwestern China, Wexton and other lawmakers said. It calls the camps vocational training centers and denies allegations by U.S. officials and human rights groups that the camps amount to modern slavery.

CANBERRA – China appears to be expanding its network of secret detention centers in Xinjiang, where predominantly Muslim minorities are targeted in a forced assimilation campaign, and more of the facilities resemble prisons, an Australian think tank has found. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute used satellite images and official construction tender documents to map more than 380 suspected detention facilities in the far northwestern region, highlighting internment camps, detention centers and prisons that have been newly built or expanded since 2017. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday dismissed the report as “pure disinformation and slander,” saying the Australian institute had “no academic credibility.” China does not operate “so-called detention camps” in Xinjiang, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing. “Of these, about 50% are higher security facilities, which may suggest a shift in usage from the lower-security, ‘re-education centers’ toward higher-security prison-style facilities,” Ruser wrote. Of the camps stripped of security infrastructure, 90% were lower security facilities, the report said.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill aimed at keeping goods out of the U.S. that are made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly Tuesday in the House of Representatives despite concerns about the potential effects on global commerce. The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labor of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the U.S. Imports made with forced labor have been banned since 1930 to ensure fair trade. The bill passed Tuesday would go further, shifting the burden to any company that operates in Xinjiang or buys goods from there to prove their goods are not tainted. Republicans and Democrats have been vocal in their condemnation of China over the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.

A man stands in a set promoting the Disney movie Mulan in Beijing on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. Disney is under fire for filming part of its live-action reboot Mulan in Xinjiang, the region in China where the government has been accused of human rights abuses against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. Last year, a boycott movement was sparked when the lead actor, Liu Yifei, a Chinese-American originally from Wuhan, publicly supported Hong Kong police when they were accused of using excessive force against Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters. Donnie Yen, a renowned Hong Kong star who plays Mulans regiment leader Commander Tung, also drew ire from Hong Kong protesters for his pro-China stance. The controversy has revived calls for a boycott in Hong Kong, where the film will be released next week.

WASHINGTON The Trump administration took new aim at China on Friday by imposing sanctions on a major paramilitary organization in the countrys western Xinjiang region and its commander for alleged human rights abuses against ethnic and religious minorities. The State and Treasury departments announced the penalties as the White House denounced authorities in Hong Kong for postponing local government elections ostensibly because of the coronavirus pandemic. "The United States is committed to using the full breadth of its financial powers to hold human rights abusers accountable in Xinjiang and across the world, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which provides authority for the administration to penalize human rights abusers abroad. We condemn the Hong Kong governments decision to postpone for one year its legislative council elections and to disqualify opposition candidates, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING Chinas latest coronavirus outbreak has spread to a second city in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. One of the 17 new cases reported on Monday was in the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, the regional government said on its official microblog. Another five new cases reported Monday by the National Health Commission were imported. No specific figures were given for those accused of violating quarantine rules and travel restrictions, although there have been relatively few such cases reported in official media. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said the four local cases were the first below 10 since May 19.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)MITO – Millions more children in the U.S. learned Friday that they're unlikely to return to classrooms full time in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic as death tolls reached new highs. The two most populous states each reported roughly 10,000 new cases and some of their highest death counts since the pandemic began. Big numbers in Florida, Arizona and other states also are helping drive the U.S. resurgence that's forcing states to rethink the school year. Gavin Newsom laid out strict criteria for school reopenings that makes classroom instruction unlikely for most districts. When she learned her school district only had two options this fall, in-person or virtual lessons, she decided to keep her kindergarten son home.

Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Rep. Chris Smith and Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback were targeted, as was the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The U.S. prohibited any property transactions by Americans with four senior Chinese officials and barred three of them from entering the U.S. The Trump administration has also slapped visa bans on Chinese officials deemed responsible for barring foreigners’ access to Tibet, along with those seen as enforcing a clampdown on civil rights in Hong Kong. Uighurs are mostly Muslim and their Turkic language, Muslim religion and central Asian culture make them distinct from China's Han majority. In October 2019, the United States imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in” the detention of Muslims in Xinjiang.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday that seeks to punish China for its crackdown on Uighurs and other ethnic minorities. The bill includes sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the mass surveillance and detention of Uighurs and other ethnic groups in the western Xinjiang region. The legislation represents the most significant action to date by any country to punish China for a crackdown in which more than a million people have been detained in camps under harsh conditions. Nury Turkel, a lawyer and Uighur rights advocate and member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, thanked the president in a social media post. It would impose sanctions on specific Chinese officials, such as the Communist Party official who oversees government policy in Xinjiang.

NEW YORK - Two groups of United Nations member states issued dueling statements over China's treatment of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, highlighting a global divide on Beijing's human rights record. "(There are) credible reports of mass detention, efforts to restrict cultural and religious practices, mass surveillance disproportionately targeting ethnic Uyghurs, and other human rights violations and abuses in the region," Karen Pierce said. Shortly after the UK's statement however, Beijing's ally Belarus made its own statement on behalf of 54 countries voicing approval of China's "counter-terrorism" program in Xinjiang. Belarus also called on countries who supported the critical statement to stop "politicizing the human rights issue" and making "baseless accusations against China." Beijing has fiercely defended its domestic security program in Xinjiang, denying it is targeting Muslim citizens or depriving them of their rights.

(CNN) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday announced visa restrictions on Chinese officials suspected of being involved in the detention and human rights abuses of millions of Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups. International media, human rights organizations, and former detainees reported security officials in the camps abused, tortured, and killed some detainees," the latest State Department human rights report on China noted. The visa restrictions also follow the Commerce Department's blacklisting on Monday of 28 Chinese companies, government offices and security bureaus over their alleged role in facilitating human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. In a statement to CNN Tuesday, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson denounced the visa restrictions, saying "it violates the basic norms governing international relations, interferes in China's internal affairs and undermines China's interests." State Department officials, speaking to reporters during the UN General Assembly, suggested that the administration sought to separate the religious rights abuses from trade discussions.

The release a leaked video showing detention camps in China has prompted the US to blacklist some Chinese organizations and companies. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Washington is adding 28 Chinese companies, government offices and security bureaus to a United States blacklist over their alleged role in facilitating human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region. Chinese authorities did not immediately respond to the US announcement, but officials have long defended the crackdown in Xinjiang as necessary to tackle extremism. Trump also referenced Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous Chinese city that has been gripped by 18 weeks of anti-government unrest. And I think President Xi has the ability to do it."

China's partners backed that claim in their Friday letter, claiming the signatories to the Thursday statement were politicizing human rights issues, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. In their letter, the 37 envoys commended China's efforts in "protecting human and promoting human rights through development," echoing a common refrain used in Chinese state media. The countries backing China included several accused of human rights violations. "The pro-China signatories include a rogues' gallery of rights abusing countries that have zero credibility when it comes to human rights," Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch said in a statement. 'Sensitive and concerned'Allegations of torture inside the Xinjiang camps are rampant.

A Uyghur woman passes the Communist Party of China flag on a wall in Urumqi, the provincial capital of Xinjiang, in western China, June 2017. (CNN) - More than 20 countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom, have issued a joint statement condemning China's mass detention of Uyghur and other minorities in the country's Xinjiang region. Allegations of torture inside the camps are rampant, including in accounts given to CNN by former detainees describing forced education under the threat of violence. There were no Muslim majority nations included in the joint statement. The Chinese government has restricted access to Xinjiang in recent years, amid growing surveillance and a prominent police presence.

The Jieleixi No.13 village mosque in Yangisar, south of Kashgar, in China's western Xinjiang region on June 4, with a banner saying "Love party, love country." (CNN) - China's far-reaching security network is targeting tourists, with border guards secretly installing a surveillance app onto the phones of visitors to Xinjiang, according to a joint report by several major international media organizations. There is a heavy police presence across Xinjiang and security cameras there are a common sight. Asked about the app Wednesday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they had "never heard of (it)." The app was only installed on Android phones, according to the media reports.