Free Republic

Officially, it’s all part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s campaign to eradicate absolute poverty in ethnic minority areas by teaching local people new skills to enable them to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods. These so-called “vocational training programs”, made infamous by the Muslim Uighur camps run in western Xinjiang, have more recently been extended to Tibet. But it is evident from official Chinese declarations in Tibet and Xinjiang that it’s not only about educating “rural surplus workers” in ethnic minority areas Beijing perceives as “backward.” Official Chinese documents on “poverty alleviation” quoted extensively by the non-partisan, Washington-based Jamestown...

Since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sidelined his football career to protest injustice, he’s been very outspoken on American issues of race and slavery from centuries ago. But Colin Kaepernick is also a highly-compensated face of sports retailer Nike. And therein lies the rub – the NFL player turn social justice warrior is notably silent on the slavery Uyghurs face in China where his namesake Nikes are made.

Some of the largest American companies — including Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola — are actively lobbying the U.S. Congress to weaken legislation that would bar the import of products made with Uighur forced labor in Xinjiang province, China.These corporations are opposing the bipartisan Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the House of Representatives 406-3 in September and is now under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The goal of the bill is to ensure “that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market.”Since Beijing...

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested the US ban on products produced by slave labor calling it "a naked act of bullying." The U.S. Policy places limits on importing cotton, apparel, hair products, and other goods from companies reasonably believed to be engaging in slave labor in China. The US restrictions were in response to reports that Xinjiang, China's westernmost province, is home to over 1,000 concentration camps where as many as 3 million Muslims are imprisoned and forced to produce the cited merchandise. The reports also contain tales of indoctrination, torture, rape, forced sterilization, and slavery. Chinese...

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday decried the U.S.-enacted limits on importing cotton, apparel, hair products, and other goods from companies reasonably believed to be engaging in slave labor in China, calling the sanctions a “naked act of bullying.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in tandem with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), announced five new Withhold Release Orders on products from Xinjiang, China’s westernmost province, believed to be home to over 1,000 concentration camps. China has imprisoned as many as 3 million Muslims, most of ethnic Uyghur descent, in the camps, where survivors say they...

'History will not judge kindly those who remained silent or were complicit in the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses' Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) accused the NBA of being complicit in "Chinese state-sanctioned abuse of children" after the league misled lawmakers on its training academy in Xinjiang, China. "Recent investigations suggest that your organization has been aware of Chinese state-sanctioned abuse of children in its Xinjiang basketball training camps, but did not take action," a Thursday letter from Blackburn and Rubio to NBA commissioner Adam Silver states. "The Chinese Government and Communist Party are...

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe says the world has gone through big changes this year when it comes to race and equality but the conversation needs to continue. "Players may be back on the pitch, but we are not going back to an old normal. We need to continue to reimagine this world and make it better," she said in a statement.

The Social Justice Warriors who run Nike, for example, pompously inform us that they are fighting “against discrimination in communities worldwide.” Not only that but they are “work[ing] every day to erase the stain of racism and the damage of injustice.” Really, Nike? Then why do you have your shoes made by an oppressive, morally bankrupt regime? China is the ugly poster child, the living exemplar, for all of the evils that you are so quick to condemn America for. Right now, at this very moment, the Chinese Communists are eliminating the Uyghurs, a Turkish-speaking people who live in China’s...

Coca-Cola would like you to know that it cares about oppression and believes America is evil. In a rambling statement by CEO James Quincey, titled, "Where We Stand on Social Justice", the head of the obesity conglomerate declared that he is, "outraged, sad, frustrated, angry." It’s hard that out there for a guy in a racist country who is only making an $18 million salary. The Coke CEO then pledged to give money to the social justice usual suspects and the company joined a boycott of Facebook to pressure it into censoring Trump and conservatives. "Companies like ours must speak...

Amid growing pressure from Native American groups, sponsors, and even the city's mayor, the Washington Redskins have announced they will conduct a 'thorough review' of the team's name, which is considered by many to be offensive. 'In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team's name,' read the statement. 'This review formalizes the initial discussions the team has been having with the league in recent weeks.' Friday's statement came after the team received a formal name-change request from FedEx, which was...

Nike, in an apparent bid to force the Washington Redskins to change their name, has removed all Redskins gear from its website. Moreover, the vertical drop-down menu on the left side of the screen, which displays the names of all 32 NFL teams, does not show the Washington Redskins. “Last year, Nike omitted the team name from its annual Salute to Service collection,” according to Pro Football Talk. “The more recent action sends a much stronger message.” Despite Nike’s apparent new-found problem in doing business with the Redskins. The athletic apparel giant does not appear to have any problem maintaining...

A report published Sunday by an Australian think tank revealed that as many as 83 internationally known brands – including Nike, BMW, Apple, Sony, Google, Lacoste, and Nintendo – have active ties to factories where evidence suggests the Communist Party has shipped Uyghur Muslims to engage in forced labor.

At least eight global companies identified as benefitting from China’s enslavement of Muslim minorities published statements celebrating Juneteenth, an American holiday marking the end of slavery in the country. A Breitbart News analysis found that the eight companies are Abercrombie & Fitch, Amazon, Apple, FILA, General Motors, Google, Nike, and Ralph Lauren. Three other companies identified as benefitting from forced labor by Muslim minorities in China — Sony, H&M, and Gap — were more cautious in their approach, issuing statements on social media against hatred and racism and in support of diversity on the days ahead of July 19 without...

LeBron James said he thinks Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey "wasn't educated on the situation at hand" when he tweeted in support of Hong Kong. James told reporters Monday that people need to be careful about what they tweet and say as there can be ramifications. "I don't want to get into a ... feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand and he spoke," James said. He added that people could have been harmed "not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually." LeBron tweeted later clarifying his comments saying he did not...

Thirty-four years ago, two researchers delved into California’s rapidly changing demographic and economic trends and saw “an emerging two-tier economy with Asians and better-educated non-Hispanic whites and blacks competing for the prestigious occupations while poorly educated Hispanics and blacks scramble for the lower status jobs…”

If you follow the news at all you are aware that recently Nike announced the release of a line of sneakers with a Revolutionary War-era American flag, known commonly as the “Betsy Ross” flag on them, and, that Nike then almost immediately announced that the release would not take place. According to multiple press reports, complaints by Nike spokesman Colin Kaepernick about the racist nature of the American flag depicted on the sneakers prompted the abrupt change of direction. Kaepernick, it appears, history buff that he is, was offended by Mrs. Ross’ handiwork, although what role Betsy, a Philadelphia Quaker...

Internet billionaire Marc Benioff is urging the GOP Congress and President Donald Trump to fast-track 400,000 foreign visa-workers — plus 400,000 family members — to green cards, the U.S. job market, and the ballot box. “This is good for our economy,” Benioff said in a Tuesday tweet that was applauded by Silicon Valley lobbyists. “We need to grow our workers to grow our economy.” Benioff’s comment is a tautology: Expanding the population by importing more than 800,000 people would obviously grow the nation’s economy, retail sales, government taxes, company profits, and Wall Street stock options. But Benioff’s cheap-labor importation plan...

Nearly two dozen people who worked on a big development in downtown San Jose were forced to work without pay and were held in captivity until they were freed last August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor

Archaeologist Mary Shepperson, who previously dug with the Amarna Project, reported in The Guardian this week on the discovery of "the simple desert graves of the ordinary Egyptians who lived and worked in Akhenaten's city and never got to leave." "They paint a picture of poverty, hard work, poor diet, ill-health, frequent injury and relatively early death," ... "As we started to get the first skeletons out of the ground it was immediately clear that the burials were even simpler than at the South Tombs Cemetery, with almost no grave goods provided for the dead and only rough matting used...

Amnesty International says a new decree in Venezuela that says the government can make any of its citizens farm the country's fields in order to combat its current, punishing food crisis "effectively amounts to forced labour." "The decree, officially published earlier this week, establishes that people working in public and private companies can be called upon to join state-sponsored organizations specialized in the production of food," Amnesty International reported. "They will be made to work in the new companies temporarily for a minimum of 60 days after which their 'contracts' will be automatically renewed for an extra 60-day period or...