Name: A year-old H&M statement about Xinjiang cotton is getting fierce blowback in China
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A year-old H&M statement about Xinjiang cotton is getting fierce blowback in China

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By Fashion reporterMarch 24, 2021H&amp;M is facing a harsh backlash in China over a year-old statement it made expressing concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang.On Weibo, a large Chinese social media platform, users have called for a boycott of the Swedish fast-fashion chain. It also appears to be blocked on China’s biggest e-commerce sites. On Alibaba’s Tmall platform, H&amp;M’s official store is , and searches for its products on Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD.com return no results, multiple sources have reported.Actor Huang Xuan and singer Victoria Song, whom H&amp;M had previously signed as brand ambassadors in the country, both emphasized they were no longer working with H&amp;M. In a statement, he opposes behavior that “spreads rumor about China and human rights.”State media has also gone on the attack against H&amp;M. Broadcaster CCTV criticized the company for “eating China’s rice while smashing its pot,” . The Beijing-backed Global Times from angry social media users calling for H&amp;M to leave China, where H&amp;M had (pdf) and generated just over $1.1 billion in sales last year.The uproar appears to have started after the Communist Youth League, once a powerful organization , lashed out at H&amp;M on Weibo, according to (paywall). “Spreading rumors to boycott Xinjiang cotton, while also wanting to make money in China? Wishful thinking!” it said. It included H&amp;M’s statement in reply to the decision by Better Cotton Initiative, an organization focused on improving cotton’s environmental and social sustainability, to last year.The company has addressed its ties to Xinjiang in the past year as Western researchers and authorities allege China is pressing Uyghurs and other predominately Muslim ethnic minorities into forced labor and internment camps. Xinjiang is a major&nbsp;source of products believed to be produced with forced labor and that make their way of international corporations. H&amp;M (pdf) it is “deeply concerned” by the allegations and that it does not source products from Xinjiang. It declined to comment on the anger it is now contending with in the country.It’s unclear why a year-old statement has become the center of the outrage online, but it comes as tensions escalate between China and western nations. This week, the US, European Union, and Canada on Chinese officials they accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. China, which has routinely denied the claims, with sanctions on European officials and organizations.The situation puts multinational corporations in a sensitive position. Many companies in clothing, footwear, and other industries are trying to distance themselves from ties to Xinjiang. But in doing so, they risk angering Beijing, which has a history of that take positions opposing its own. The costs can be high. The National Basketball Association over a spat with Beijing after a team’s general&nbsp;manager voiced his support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.Companies from condemning China’s actions in Xinjiang. But plenty have made statements against forced labor and insist they don’t source from the region, including big names such as , , and , owner of Zara.Chinese companies may take a different course. that Anta, China’s homegrown sports giant, has released a statement on Weibo saying it has always used Chinese cotton, including from Xinjiang.

By Fashion reporterMarch 24, 2021H&amp;M is facing a harsh backlash in China over a year-old statement it made expressing concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang.On Weibo, a large Chinese social media platform, users have called for a boycott of the Swedish fast-fashion chain. It also appears to be blocked on China’s biggest e-commerce sites. On Alibaba’s Tmall platform, H&amp;M’s official store is , and searches for its products on Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD.com return no results, multiple sources have reported.Actor Huang Xuan and singer Victoria Song, whom H&amp;M had previously signed as...

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A year-old H&M statement about Xinjiang cotton is getting fierce blowback in China

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