Xinjiang firms seek damages from foreign researcher over forced labour reports: media

Xinjiang firms seek damages from foreign researcher over forced labour reports: media

BEIJING (Reuters) - The official news outlet of the Communist Party of China's Xinjiang region said unidentified companies from the area have filed a domestic civil lawsuit seeking unspecified compensation from a US-based human rights researcher whose reports alleged forced labour is used in the region's cotton industry.

The companies said researcher Adrian Zenz's reports were untrue, damaged the reputation of the industry and led to economic losses after the United States banned cotton imports from Xinjiang, according to a report on by the Xinjiang Communist Party website on Monday evening.

Monday's report on the lawsuit did not include details of which companies were behind the civil action nor how much they were seeking in compensation and Reuters was not immediately able to review a copy of any legal filing.

The report said the suit was filed in what it called a local Xinjiang court, but didn't say when the filing was made. The Xinjiang government did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the case on Tuesday.

Experts said if it the suit would be the first known instance of a foreign researcher facing civil action in China over human rights research that has contributed to pressure for economic sanctions,