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U.S. brands China as among worst human trafficking offenders
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) Ceremony at the State Department in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2017. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
By Yeganeh Torbati
27/06/2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday placed China on its global list of the worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labor, a step that could aggravate tensions with Beijing that had eased under President Donald Trump.
Trump, however, has grown increasingly frustrated over China's inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, three senior administration officials told Reuters.
Myanmar was upgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List of nations making significant efforts to meet minimum U.S. standards, from Tier 3, those countries not complying and making no significant effort to do so. Afghanistan, Malaysia and Qatar were each upgraded to Tier 2, a list of nations making significant efforts to comply, from the Tier 2 Watch List.
Tier 1 designates nations that meet minimum U.S. standards.
The report said China convicted fewer sex and labor traffickers in the 12 months ended on March 31 than in the previous year, forcibly repatriated North Koreans without screening them for indicators of trafficking, and handled most forced labor cases as administrative issues rather than criminal prosecutions.
For the previous three years, China was on the Tier 2 Watch List. China was last in the lowest ranking, or Tier 3, in 2013.
A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to U.S. and international aid, but U.S. presidents frequently waive such action.
"China was downgraded to Tier 3 status in this year's report in part because it has not taken serious steps to end its own complicity in trafficking, including forced laborers from North Korea that are located in China," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said as he presented the report.
The State Department also removed Iraq and Myanmar from a list of countries that recruit and use child soldiers.
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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