Free Republic

The House of Representatives late Wednesday passed legislation to ban all goods from China’s remote northwestern region of Xinjiang over concerns about forced labor.The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the Democrat-led chamber by an overwhelming vote of 428-1, now heads to the Senate. It would need to pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law.Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only lawmaker who voted against the measure.The measure would create a “rebuttable presumption” that all goods from Xinjiang, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has set up a vast network of detention...

South Korea's ban on trade with North Korea would deliver a "direct blow" to the country's already destitute economy and could jeopardize the struggling Kim Jong-Il regime if China joins sanctions, a think tank here said. The report came after President Lee Myung-Bak announced that his country would cut all trade links and aid with North Korea and block its commercial ships from sailing through the South's waters as part of countermeasures to the North's submarine attack on the South's warship in March that killed 46 sailors. The North has consistently achieved a surplus in commercial trade with the South,...

Continuing embargo on Cuba does more harm to American freedom than to Castro, Libertarians say WASHINGTON, DC -- By continuing to support the U.S. embargo on Cuba, President Bush is undermining the freedom of the American people, Libertarians say. "The U.S. government has no business ordering Americans not to trade with or travel to Cuba or any other nation," said LP Executive Director Steve Dasbach. "By stubbornly refusing to repeal this failed, 40-year- old law, Bush is punishing the American people for the crimes of Fidel Castro." In an appearance in Miami's "Little Havana" on Monday, Bush called for democratic...