Front Page of Dagens Nyheter, March 7th, 2024

In a bombshell report published in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, leaked transcripts from EU - PRC trade talks, provided by an anonymous source and backed up by five anonymous eyewitnesses, PRC representatives revealed that the use of forced labour within the country is general.

The conversation came as part of wider trade talks between the EU and the People's Republic of China, especially concerning electric vehicles traded between the two countries.

The Swedish delegation, headed by Permanent Representative to the EU Mikaela Granit (who is noted as having special interest in Swedish - Chinese relations) pressed the Chinese representatives on a concrete ban of forced labour in the country, especially in the Xinjiang region, where the continued persecution of the Uighur minority is an important issue on the mind of European voters.

"Forced labor is only used in institutions housing those who have been duly convicted of criminal offenses," the PRC representative is quoted as saying. This revelation, a surprising reversal of previous Chinese denials on their use of forced labour, was apparently a slip of the tongue. Nevertheless, when pressed on outlawing the practice, the representative is recorded as saying: "If you have a problem with (forced labour), you should be admonishing the United States, not us."

The most shocking quotation comes from later in the discussion, when the representative is recorded as saying: "China refuses to condemn the use of forced labor or end its practice thereof unless the European Union is prepared to enact severe trade restrictions upon the United States for their use of the same."

It should be noted that the United States has already passed legislation relating to forced labour in the Xinjiang region, known as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The Chinese consulate in Gothenburg could not be immediately reached for comment. The office of the Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell, replied to our email stating: "The government of Sweden has been starkly concerned at Chinese inaction to prevent forced labour within the country, but our surprise at their acknowledgement of the practice is general. It is clear that the People's Republic of China sees no issue with the fundamental human rights being violated through its continued use of slave labour within Xinjiang, and we expect this revelation to further damage the PRC's credibility, human rights record, and the ability for the EU to move forward with trade talks."