The release of a long-awaited U.N. report detailing human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region may prompt renewed scrutiny and punitive measures from other countries and lead to Chinese countermeasures, compounding reputational risks for businesses and exposure to retaliatory legislation both inside and outside of China. On Aug. 31, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a much-delayed 46-page report on the Chinese government's human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minority peoples in the country's western Xinjiang region from 2017-2019. The report concludes that China has committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, including arbitrary imprisonment and torture of detainees; systemic repression of Uyghur and other minority groups' religions, cultures and languages; violations of privacy rights and freedom of movement; violations of reproductive rights; forced labor; family separations; and undue reprisals....
