During the U.S.-China diplomatic meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, “Tiger” Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) foreign affairs chief dropped the now trending quote “Chinese people don’t eat this,” which just means that Chinese people will not allow themselves to be pushed around. Behind the scenes, the official propaganda machine was in full swing, pinning the incident to the Eight-Power Allied Forces of 120 years ago and whipping up nationalistic wounds of humiliation and desire for revenge in the Mainland. The CCP had known that the next step would be for the European Union and the Five Eyes Coalition to impose sanctions on Xinjiang officials, so the CCP had planned out Act Two in advance, namely “Support Xinjiang Cotton.” The issue of forced labor was transformed into saving the country from oppression by foreign powers, and stale news was rehashed, echoing the nationalist spirit to wipe out disgrace. Under the heated cyber campaign of “no idols before the state,” performers are cutting ties with foreign clothing brands they endorse. In Hong Kong, the most shocking was that Eason Chan, who has always avoided expressing his political stance, was the first to take the lead this time and announced he would cease all cooperation with Adidas, a German brand he has collaborated with for many years. Eason Chan and his management agency thought that they would be able to dodge the bullet by cutting quickly and rising as a patriotic entertainer. Unbeknownst to them, he has embarked on the path of a political condom. This patriotic campaign of Xinjiang cotton against foreign companies can hardly last, and in the end, the party will simply announce that it will continue to revive the local textile and garment brands as a way of closure. As for the “stigmatized” Eason Chan, who will now be regarded by the world as the spokesperson for Xinjiang reeducation camps, can wholeheartedly concentrate on running the docks in the Mainland and performing at domestic shopping malls. He can bid farewell to pop culture from now on!

So why will the Xinjiang cotton movement end up in shambles? This is because the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has already made a prediction in 2020 that the coronavirus crisis has exceeded expectations and made the government and the business community wake up to the need to reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing, reshape globalization and shift the supply chain out of China. Since China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the past 20 years, it has dominated the global international trade and supply chain. The EIU, which has always supported globalization, said that the pandemic will reverse globalization by accelerating a move toward regional supply chains. In the globalized supply chain of the apparel industry, people only see the large retail outlets of H&M, Adidas, Nike, Uniqlo, Gap, Zara and Muji in China, and think that with the CCP inflaming the “nationalism of shame” and the new Boxer Rebellion following the example of the railroad demolition and church destruction of foreign goods 120 years ago, foreign companies will surely admit their mistakes and grovel low. However, are you aware that the U.S., EU and Japan are the most important export markets for China’s textile and apparel industry? The total export value of the whole textile-related industry is nearly 1,300 billion yuan (US$1,987 billion), accounting for more than half of the total output of China’s textile industry. That is, H&M, Uniqlo, Adidas and Nike are not only made in the Mainland and sold in the Mainland, but more importantly, they are supplied to the rest of the world and exported to retail stores everywhere.

The Xinjiang cotton incident conveniently delinked the global textile and apparel supply chain from China. Originally, foreign investors have been evading responsibility and acting inconsistently when dealing with the Xinjiang cotton topic, but the CCP decided to take on the role of the Boxer Gang and was foolish enough to mobilize the Little Pink Army to coerce foreign companies to take a stance on the issue. If foreign companies kneel down to the CCP, it will seriously damage their brand image, and consumers in the West will immediately launch a boycott. Forced labor in Xinjiang was exposed in 2019, and foreign consumers did not care much about it as a matter of fact. The reason why the issue is drawing the attention of the West again is that the pandemic has triggered global anti-China sentiment. So this time, if foreign companies kneel to the CCP, it will trigger a more serious global boycott. If the CCP’s Boxer Rebellion escalates, foreign companies will have to cut losses in the short term, and permanently abandon the use of Chinese cotton, switching to Brazil, India, Pakistan and other large cotton-producing countries. In addition, the formerly China-based garment production lines and related industrial chains will also be withdrawn, and the supply chain de-China-ization will proceed in advance. So I reckon this Xinjiang cotton campaign will quickly wrap up, leaving only Eason Chan, who tailgated too close and is now left abandoned on the ground like a used condom.

The CCP is presently using a technique called “controlled nationalism,” believing that populism can be unleashed and withdrawn at any time, in order to consolidate dictatorial governance and achieve sustainable rule. However, while they are gleefully believing that they have won another battle and the leadership’s popularity is high, they have in fact taken yet another giant step towards “de-China-ization” of the supply chain.

(Lau Sai-leung, political commentator)

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