GT investigates BBC report contradicting facts on Xinjiang forced labor topics (Global Times) 09:57, December 29, 2020
A worker in the Pomegranate Seed Garment Co. in Northwest China s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region agrees to have her photo taken. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/GT For some anti-China forces, cotton has become the latest tool to hype forced labor topics in Northwest China s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Citing a report of the infamous scholar Adrian Zenz, the BBC accused China of forcing Uygurs and people of other ethnic minority groups to pick cotton by hand. However, by visiting cotton farms and interviewing people working in cotton-related fields in southern Xinjiang, the Global Times found that machines have been widely applied in cotton planting and harvesting, with fewer workers needed, and there is no forced labor in related industries in Xinjiang.