China dismisses UN experts’ forced labour concerns as ‘groundless’

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The UN experts said successful  a associated  connection    that forced labour was being enabled done  a State-mandated “poverty alleviation done  labour transfer” programme. File

The UN experts said successful a associated connection that forced labour was being enabled done a State-mandated “poverty alleviation done labour transfer” programme. File | Photo Credit: Getty Image/iStockphoto

Beijing dismissed connected Friday (January 23, 2026) concerns from United Nations experts implicit the standard and severity of allegations of forced labour affecting number groups successful China, calling them "fundamentally groundless".

UN peculiar rapporteurs and different experts said connected Thursday (January 23, 2026) determination were "persistent" allegations of State-imposed forced labour affecting taste minorities wrong the far-western Xinjiang portion and different parts of China.

When asked astir the comments, Beijing's Foreign Ministry said that "slander cannot beryllium tolerated".

"The alleged concerns of definite experts are wholly fabricated and fundamentally groundless," spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters astatine a regular property briefing.

"We impulse the experts... [to] execute their duties impartially and objectively and not beryllium reduced to service arsenic tools and accomplices of anti-China forces," Guo added.

The UN experts said successful a associated connection that forced labour was being enabled done a State-mandated "poverty alleviation done labour transfer" programme, which they said coerces Uyghurs and members of different number groups into jobs successful Xinjiang and different regions.

They besides said Tibetans were taxable to forced labour done akin schemes, estimating astir 650,000 radical were affected by labour transfers successful 2024.

Beijing has repeatedly and vehemently denied accusations of quality rights abuses against the Uyghurs, saying that these initiatives trim poorness by providing well-paying jobs for low-income agrarian residents.

UN peculiar rapporteurs are autarkic experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to study their findings. They bash not, therefore, talk connected the UN's behalf.

Guo said connected Friday (January 23, 2026) that the improvement and advancement successful Xinjiang and Tibet are "evident to all".

Published - January 23, 2026 02:37 p.m. IST

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