The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said allegations that China forced Xinjiang Uygurs to work as cheap labor in factories are "untrue," urging the U.S. to stop politicizing bilateral economic exchange.

On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez said U.S. companies are willfully ignoring "horrific" forced labor conditions in China's Xinjiang, urging the Commerce Department to stop American companies and consumers from buying goods produced with such labor.

Menendez said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that U.S. companies, including Apple, Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, and the Gap, had sourced, or continued to source, goods from Xinjiang. 

He said there are reports that "U.S. companies fail to undertake basic labor and human rights assessments in Xinjiang, in essence willfully ignoring the horrific conditions of forced labor in Xinjiang."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied such cases of forced labor.

Chinese citizens, no matter what their ethnicity, race, gender, religion, are employed on the basis of equality and mutual consultation with the employer, and they are protected by the Labor Law and Labor Contract Law, Geng told a daily briefing in Beijing.

People in Xinjiang are protected by these laws, and there is no such thing as "forced labor," he said.

Geng urged the U.S. to stop politicizing non-governmental economic cooperation between the two sides.

"We hope the U.S. politician can remove his "colored glasses" and be fair and neutral on normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and American companies," Geng said.

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover: U.S. Senator Bob Menendez exits at the end of the day as the Trump impeachment trial continues in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 27, 2020. /Reuters)