China Attacks Brands as Nations Show Concern About Human Rights
Chinese state TV has called for a boycott
Some nations showed concerns about human rights issues in Xinjiang, and China retaliated by banning big brands like H&M, Nike, Adidas, Zara, and many others.
It all began when the 27-nation European Union, Britain, Canada, and the US decided to impose travel and financial sanctions on some Chinese officials who have been blamed for human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Chinese state TV has called for a boycott of H&M on Thursday as the country could not take the penalties put on Chinese officials regarding human rights violations in Xinjiang. Following this, many top celebrities like Wang Yibo, Eason Chan, and others have decided to ditch lucrative endorsement deals of western brands.
H&M was criticized by the ruling Communist Party as the brand stated in March 2020 that it would stop buying cotton from Xinjiang over the human rights issue of forced labour. Global Times, the newspaper of the party also criticized statements by brands like Nike, Adidas, Zara, and New Balance as they spoke about Xinjiang human rights issues as early as two years back.
China Central Television stated this clearly on its social media account – “For enterprises that touch the bottom line of our country, the response is very clear: don’t buy!”
According to reports, Xinjiang’s human rights violation is a serious matter as over 1 million people are confined to work camps. China has denied those reports by foreign governments and researchers and claims that the country is trying to promote economic development and make efforts to stamp out radicalism.
A Commerce Ministry spokesperson said this – “The so-called existence of forced labour in the Xinjiang region is totally fictitious. The person also called on foreign companies to “correct wrong practices” but did not elaborate on how to go about it.
China often attacks foreign brands, and in most cases, the companies apologize and change their tone to keep China happy. It might happen again, and the brands might look away from the reported human rights issue in Xinjiang once more. In other fashion news, did you hear about the latest and unique Jacob & Co. SF24 NFT watch?
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