Earlier, The Washington Post, citing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reported that the state authorities had sent 395 prisoners to fight forest fires. The newspaper noted that most of them were persons who had committed minor crimes, TASS reported.
On her Telegram channel, Zakharova pointed out that in recent years, US officials have repeatedly criticized China for allegedly using forced labor, particularly in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The diplomat noted that in 2023, Washington restricted imports of products from several Chinese companies in an attempt to exclude goods allegedly produced with the help of Uygur forced labor from the US supply chain.
"This raises a logical question: will Congress draft a bill imposing sanctions on California authorities, private companies, and ordinary Americans for using prison labor to put out fires?" she wondered. "We are so sick of this hypocrisy!" Zakharova added.
Wildfires began to spread across Los Angeles County on January 7. According to meteorologists, dry and windy weather was the cause of the rapid spread of the fires. Evacuation notices were sent to nearly 180,000 residents. The fire has destroyed more than 12,300 structures in the region, with damage estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.