UK court to hear case to ban Xinjiang cotton as protest against 'Uyghur forced labour' by China govt

Relations between China and the United Kingdom might hit a fresh bump, with a UK court hearing a petition on the situation in the Chinese region of Xinjiang.

The Xi Jinping government has been accused of severe human rights violations against Xinjiang's Uyghur community, which is mostly Muslim.

The High Court in London is set to hear a case in which the UK government has been accused of failing to block the import of cotton products from Xinjiang. This might be the first time that a foreign court hears legal arguments from the Uyghurs over the issue of forced labour in Xinjiang.

The case has been filed by the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress and the Global Legal Action Network, a non-profit human rights group.

It might be an attempt to make European nations follow the example of the United States of America which has banned cotton products suspected of being made in Xinjiang as punishment for Beijing's forced labour policies.

Researchers say Xinjiang produces 85% of cotton grown in China, constituting one-fifth of the world's cotton.

(With PTI inputs)