H&M boycott delayed for China-EU trade deal
The latest backlash against H&M’s statement on Xinjiang is delayed for months due to negotiations over China’s trade deal with the European Union, mainland media suggested.
Chinese consumers are riled up against the Swedish fashion retailer for a statement issued in October 2020, where the company said it did not source cotton from Xinjiang. Several e-commerce companies have since dropped the retailer from their platforms.
A report attributed the timing of the backlash, which was delayed for almost half a year, to the China-E.U. trade deal. Beijing did not want any complication during the talks back then, it said. But the boycott was unleashed after Brussels joined a string of Western countries to levy sanctions on Chinese officials over serious human rights violations in Xinjiang.
In response to the spiraling outrage, H&M said on Wednesday it followed international guidelines for sustainability and that its supply-chain principles “did not represent any political position.”
“We are committed to long-term investment and development in China,” it added in the statement on Weibo.
The Communist Youth League, a youth division of the CCP, first lambasted H&M in a Weibo post. “Spreading rumors to boycott Xinjiang cotton while also wanting to make money in China? It is wishful thinking!” it wrote.
The latest backlash orchestrated by the state has prompted concerns among other Western fashion brands. H&M is among a number of brands, including PUMA, Nike, Gap and New Balance, that work with the global non-profit organization Better Cotton Initiative to source clothing materials.
BCI suspended cotton from the region after reports of China’s use of Uighurs in forced labor surfaced.
Chinese sports-wear maker Anta Sports, who was previously a member, announced on Wednesday it has started the process to quit the organization. While two Chinese celebrities, Huang Xuan and Song Qian, who were ambassadors for H&M, immediately cut ties with the company.
In last year’s statement, H&M said it was deeply concerned about reports of forced labor and discrimination of ethno-religious minorities in the region. “We do not work with any garment-manufacturing factories located in Xinjiang, and we do not source products from this region,” it stressed.
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