By Emma Farge

GENEVA, (Reuters) – An International Labour Organization committee expressed concern over China’s policy in Xinjiang’s farwest region. It called these policies discriminatory and demanded that Beijing improve its employment practices to meet international standards.

China hosts the Winter Olympics in a delicate time, so the report about the area, which is home to China’s Muslim Uyghurs minor, could stoke geopolitical tensions with the United States.

America and the other Western countries have imposed a diplomatic ban on the Games because of China’s treatment Uyghurs from Xinjiang. Some rights abuse allegations are examined by the ILO Committee, like China’s alleged use for forced or prison labor.

China denied the claims.

The Thursday report stated that “the Committee is deeply concerned about the policy direction expressed in many national and region policy and regulatory documents” and asked the Government to review their national and regional policies in order to eliminate any distinction, exclusion, or preference.

The committee requested China to remove provisions that “impose deradicalisation duties upon enterprises and trade unions in Xinjiang” and amend the political reeducation provisions.

China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva and China’s foreign minister did not respond immediately to inquiries for comment. The U.S. State Department praised the findings of the ILO committee and urged Beijing to follow the ILO’s lead.

The committee reviews a variety of claims made by the International Trade Union Confederation in its report. This includes Beijing’s use of a widespread and systematic program of forced labor throughout Xinjiang, which violates the Employment Policy Convention.

According to the report, China’s government declared the allegations “untrued and politically motivated”.

China is a member since 1919 of the Geneva-based ILO and has ratified numerous of its legally binding conventions.

To provide impartial and objective evaluations of the application of global labor standards by all members, ILO’s committee is composed of 20 lawyers.