China sanctions US firm Kharon, provider of research on Xinjiang

China’s foreign ministry announced that it has sanctioned Kharon, a US corporation created by former Treasury Department officials that offers firms with data on suspected forced labour in the Xinjiang area to assist them in complying with US regulations.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministry announced “countermeasures” against Kharon and its head of investigations for supplying “so-called evidence for America’s illegal sanctions related to Xinjiang.”

In response, Kharon, located in Los Angeles, stated that because it had no presence in China, the action was “largely symbolic” and would have no impact on its operations or ability to service its clients.

“In service of our clients and all global businesses that seek to implement leading risk management programs, Kharon will continue to provide research and data analytics that is objective, independent, and based on reliable sources,” it said in a statement.

A former researcher of the US-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies will also be subject to sanctions.

The affected individuals will be banned from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and the property of Kharon in China will be frozen, the ministry said.

Kharon said companies depend on its forced labour data to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

The act was signed into US law in 2021 to deny entry to goods from listed companies originating from the Chinese region of Xinjiang unless they can prove they were not produced with or tied to forced labour.

The United States this month curbed imports from three more Chinese firms including Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group, previously found by Kharon to have participated in labour transfers in 2017 in which thousands of workers were sent to work at various production facilities.

US officials say they believe Chinese authorities have established labour camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. Beijing denies any abuses.

The Xinjiang-related sanctions are based on “lies” and “false narratives”, according to Beijing, which says the US is bent on undermining Xinjiang’s stability and curbing China’s development.