UK urged to probe spate of Chinese flights for forced labor

LONDON — A flurry of new cargo flights from China’s Xinjiang province to Britain may be trafficking goods made with forced labor, the U.K. government is being warned.

Three brand-new routes connecting Xinjiang — at the center of international human rights concerns over the treatment of the Uyghur ethnic group — to major U.K. airports have opened up since last summer.

It's prompted demands for an investigation from the head of the British parliament's cross-party human rights committee, who fired off a letter to the U.K. government earlier this month — and is considering calling freight bosses to give evidence in Westminster.

“I fear that these routes are being used to bring goods made with forced labor into the U.K.,” said David Alton in a Jan. 17 letter to Home Office Minister David Hanson, seen by POLITICO.

The fresh trade routes all sprang up in 2024, and come amid increased popularity for a host of Chinese e-commerce platforms in the U.K.

European charter airline Titan Airways operates what has been billed as the first direct route between Xinjiang and London. Data shows that flights run every one to two days. The route, which became operational in December, specializes in e-commerce cargo.

European Cargo meanwhile launched a new direct route from Xinjiang to Cardiff airport in October. It flies three times every week, and deals primarily with e-commerce cargo. It was launched last year with talk of a “milestone flight” carrying 59 tons of e-commerce packages.

The same cargo carrier also expanded its operations, connecting Xinjiang to Bournemouth airport last August, with four flights per week. Also specializing in e-commerce goods, it carried 58 tons in its maiden voyage.

Both Titan Airways and European Cargo have issued statements saying that they comply with the U.K.'s Modern Slavery Act, which requires firms to be vigilant and report on steps to guard against forced labor in their supply chains.

European Cargo declined to comment when approached by POLITICO, and Titan Airways did not respond to a request for comment.

Alton’s human rights committee is now weighing up whether to call in cargo carriers using these routes to give evidence in an ongoing forced labor inquiry.

The e-commerce imports, flown into Stansted, Cardiff and Bournemouth, are “most likely tainted by Uyghur forced labor,” Alton wrote to the Conservatives’ Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel in a separate letter. He sent a similar letter to Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch, whose constituency neighbors Stansted airport.

The U.K. “lacks a forced labor due-diligence screening mechanism compared to our partners in Europe and the USA which has the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” Alton said in his letter to the Home Office.

Under the current law, U.K. firms making more than £36 million must file an annual report about how they’ve prevented modern slavery in their operations.