H&M and Nike face social media storm in China

The ongoing international row over alleged mistreatment of China’s Uighur minority in Xinjiang province has now enveloped Western clothing brands H&M and Nike.

Both companies have faced a furious backlash on Chinese social media after they separately issued statements expressing concern about reports of the use of forced labour and saying they would not source textiles from the region, the Guardian reported.

The details

• Nike’s undated statement was one of the highest trending topics on Weibo on Thursday and the fallout included announcements from popular Chinese actors Wang Yibo and Tan Songyun that they would be terminating their contracts with Nike. Wang Yibo stated that he firmly opposed “any act to smear China”.
• Swedish clothing giant H&M has also come under fire after social media users became aware of a statement it issued last year expressing concern about the situation in Xinjiang. The company said it didn’t source products from the region and strictly prohibits the use of forced labour in its supply chain.
• H&M’s products disappeared from Alibaba’s Taobao e-commerce platform on Wednesday, while state media published commentaries criticising the company.
• State-run Beijing Youth Daily also name-checked Adidas, New Balance and Burberry for being members of the Better Cotton Initiative, which suspended licensing of cotton sourced from Xinjiang early in 2020 because of lack of access and due diligence on whether supply chains there were using forced labour.
• China has always denied allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang, insisting that the network of camps there are vocational training centres aimed at countering extremism.

Sourced from the Guardian, Wall Street Journal