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U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley was dumbstruck when he grilled an Intel Corp. executive who could not seem to condemn China over forced labor practices.

The Missouri Republican made several efforts to clarify the issue as Intel’s Chief Trade Officer Jeffrey Rittener seemed to struggle to agree that “slave labor is wrong.”

The exchange came during a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as executives from four U.S. technology companies testified about U.S. technology being used in weaponry employed by Russia in its war with Ukraine. Hawley pivoted to China when he questioned Rittener about his company doing business with the communist nation.

“Do you condemn the forced labor that the Chinese government and its suppliers use?” Hawley asked in reference to Intel’s business dealings in the province of Xinjiang and the use of ethnic minority groups such as the Turkic Uyghur people.

“That particular question, I would leave the answer to the experts. I’m not an expert on that,” Rittener replied.

“Well, wait a minute, you’re not an expert on whether or not there’s forced labor in China?” Hawley asked.

“Correct,” the executive confirmed.

“Well, wait a minute. You’re not willing to say here today that the Chinese are exploiting the Uyghurs?” the senator pressed.

“I would leave that answer to that question to the experts,” Rittener repeated.

“What does it take an expert to know that there’s slave labor in China, that the Uyghurs are enslaved? Do you know who the Uyghurs are?” the stunned lawmaker asked.

“So are you willing to say that what the Chinese authorities are doing to the Uyghurs is wrong?” Hawley asked after Rittener confirmed he knew about the ethnic group.

According to a BBC report:

China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uyghur population and other mostly-Muslim ethnic groups in the north-western region of Xinjiang.

Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”, and sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms.

When Rittener once again claimed no expertise on the issue and would not agree with the senator, Hawley unloaded.

“Oh, good Lord. I can’t believe you’re saying this, and you know what’s alarming about this? Is your company did the same thing in December 2021,” he said, going on to recount Intel’s letter to suppliers at the time.

“Senator I’m not, I am not in a position to to make that statement,” the tech exec repeated.

“You’re not in a position to condemn forced labor in China?” Hawley asked.

“I would condemn forced labor. I’m not an expert to be able to weigh in on whether China is engaging in such actions,” Rittener said.

“You have billions of dollars of investments in China. You are investing in Chinese artificial intelligence. You are investing in Chinese semiconductors you are making, who knows how much money in China. But you won’t say that the Uyghurs being exploited is wrong,” the senator snapped.

“What is wrong with you people? That’s not a rhetorical question,” he added. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“I personally, I believe that slave labor is wrong,” Rittener finally acknowledged.

“Oh, good. Well, I’m glad we’ve gotten that far,” the senator snarked before asking, “Why is your company associating itself with it?”

“I am not aware that my company is associated with it,” Rittener replied.

“I can’t, I cannot believe that we are sitting here having this conversation. I cannot believe that it is not easy for you,” Hawley shot back as the exchange continued.

The full exchange can be viewed in the YouTube video below:

(Video Credit: Josh Hawley)

Frieda Powers
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