slavery

Human exceptionalism imposes duties as well as rights. A crucial obligation of each and every one of us is to treat each of our human brothers and sisters as equals. Hence, slavery is evil and the antithesis of human exceptionalism because it treats equals as unequal and human beings as objects to be exploited for the benefit of those with the power to control the enslaved. Ditto, forced labor camps filled with people imprisoned due to political or religious persecution — as occurs with appalling efficiency in the “Fourth Reich” that is Communist China. Internationally prominent companies are being charged in the media with benefiting from forced labor in China. From the AFP story: China is transferring tens of thousands of Uighur detainees out of internment camps and into factories that supply some of the world’s leading brands, an Australian think tank said Monday. Top global brands such as Apple, BMW and Sony have been accused of getting supplies from factories using the forced labour, an explosive allegation that could reverberate in boardrooms across the world. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said the Chinese government has transferred 80,000 or more Uighurs out of camps in Xinjiang and into factories across the country. “Uighurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors,” the think tank said. Attention must be paid to determine whether this is true. Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism calls on the relevant Congressional committees to call public hearings at which the CEOs and other executives of the accused companies should be called upon to explain their business’s cooperation — if any — in this tyranny. We also urge President Trump to stand more forcefully on behalf of human rights in China than he has heretofore. Profits are important, but it is not the only thing. Free markets require free labor. Forced work and religious persecution have no place in the 21st century.