Esquel Group, one of the world’s largest shirt makers, has denied the US government’s allegations of using forced labor in its Changji Esquel Textile Co factory.

The Hong Kong-headquartered textile manufacturer established Changji Esquel Textile Co as a highly automated spinning mill in 2009 and has employed skilled technicians it says are paid at least 2-3 times the minimum wage level. The group reported that a global audit firm who last came to CJE in 2019 confirmed that it did not use forced labor, and over the years many international groups and customers have visited the site with positive reports.

Reports first linked Esquel Group to Xinjiang in 2019 and Esquel CEO John Cheh told The Wall Street Journal at the time that in 2017, officials started offering the company Uighurs from southern Xinjiang to employ. While Cheh said at the time that the company did take in 34 of them in the previous two years, its hiring decisions were made independently, and that Esquel Group was in no way forced to employ anyone.

He said the company’s recruitment process is the same for all candidates globally, and that’s what Esquel follows. Employees are free to leave the workplace at the close of the day or terminate their employment at will, he said, adding that there aren’t pay discrepancies based on race, ethnicity or gender either.