According to China’s National Medical Products Administration, only four companies in the Xinjiang region, which has a large Uighur population, were producing medical-grade protective equipment before the coronavirus pandemic. After reviewing state media reports and public records, The Times found that at least 17 of those companies participate in the labor program. Our reporting team traced a shipment of masks received by a medical supply company in the U.S. to a factory in Hubei Province where more than 100 Uighur workers had been sent. In other developments:Hong Kong suspended nonessential government services after the city reported 108 new infections, its highest number in a single day. Turkey has suspended flights to Iran and Afghanistan in response to infections in those countries, its Transport Ministry said.

Source: New York Times July 19, 2020 20:15 UTC