Major fashion brands appear to be distancing themselves from a deepening political row over cotton produced in Xinjiang, amid a social media backlash that threatens their prospects in China.

Swedish clothing giant H&M, which has found itself in the firing line, says “it does not represent any political position” and that it “respects Chinese consumers.”

The company is in damage control after a statement it put out a year ago, voicing “concerns” about Xinjiang cotton that were attributed to reports of forced labor and discrimination, riled Chinese netizens recently and led to boycott calls.

H&M initially spoke up in March after the Better Cotton Initiative, an advocacy group for sustainably grown and responsibly harvested cotton, found evidence of increased risks of forced labor on Xinjiang cotton farms, according to media reports.

The concerns were raised in an H&M statement that mentioned malpractices and pledged to cut ties with certain suppliers found to be problematic. The statement resurfaced on the internet this week after Western governments, including the United States, imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang. An uproar ensued among Chinese netizens.

Late on Wednesday, the company issued another statement saying: “H&M Group has always managed our global supply chain in an open and transparent manner, ensuring that our suppliers worldwide comply with our sustainability commitments such as the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct and do not represent any political position.”

Inditex, the parent of another affordable fashion brand, Zara, has apparently withdrawn a press release, also dated last year, about human rights in Xinjiang.

The latest row revolving around the semi-autonomous region dominated by Uyghurs underlines the risks of Western companies operating in China and the growing fragility of businesses in the face of political tensions among nations.

Earlier this week, a sell-off was triggered among “Chinese concept stocks,” shares in Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges, by an announcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission about kickstarting certain processes to force auditors to review their accounting standards.

Authorities said the exercise was needed to ensure Chinese companies complied with American rules. It was a policy directive initiated by the then Donald Trump administration and could lead to the delisting of the companies from U.S. bourses.

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