Correspondence
Email sent to the contact address for Rizhao Rongxing.
The email said: "I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry. The Rongsense Group has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program, since 2017 and as recently as May 2023.
The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment and obstruct freedom to leave employment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor. Rizhao Rongxing Food Co. Ltd.’s international customers include companies in the U.S., where the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor is prohibited.
Can you confirm or deny if Uyghurs have been employed at Rizhao Rongxing’s plant any time over the last five years? Does Rizhao Rongxing have any comment or statement to make in response to the above information? Please respond to this email by close of business September 7, 2023, and note that all interactions are fully on record."