H&M Under Fire In China Due To Refusal To Buy Xinjiang Cotton

Swedish multinational clothing retailer H&M is attacked by a backlash coming from China after they claimed that they would not buying cotton produced in Xinjiang, as Beijing battles refused of any genocide and forced labour in the region.

H&M, the world’s second-biggest clothing retailer declared that it would not source cotton from Xinjiang last year. “We do not work with any garment manufacturing factories located in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and we do not source products from this region,” the company said.

As Chinese media reported, all major Chinese e-commerce platforms, including JD, Taobao, and Pinduoduo already removed H&M products. Now, H&M products can not being founded on these platfroms yielded.

Britain and US, EU and Canada sanction Chinese officials over Xinjiang, while H&M headquarters in Sweden did not respond immediately to requests for comment, although H&M China said that H&M Group has consistently upheld the principles of openness and transparency while managing their global supply chains, ensuring it respects our commitment to sustainable development as outlined by the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct, this does not represent any political position. Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims.

Xinhua also posted a commentary online saying H&M would suffer from its action.Xinjiang problem was also on the agenda in Alaska last week when top US Chinese officials gathering together ,do nothing but arguing with each other. It  mentioned human rights record related to Xinjiang. China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi mounted a fiery defence, saying the United States was not qualified to be condescending when speaking to China. Xinjiang sanctions not enough to convince China hawks to support EU investment deal.

Two of Yang’s phrases – “we Chinese people don’t buy it”, and “stop interfering in China’s internal politics” – became popular memes online.On Wednesday, the youth league repurposed the style of the meme to say: “H&M take off your biased lenses and immediately stop spreading fake news. Xinjiang cotton doesn’t buy it.”

China denounces Canadian lawmakers for passing motion declaring genocide in Xinjiang.Chinese K-pop star Victoria Song, who shot to fame as part of Korean girl group F (x), also said on Wednesday that she was not associated in any way with H&M. “The national interest is more important than anything, [Victoria Song] boycotts any behaviour that harms the reputation of China. She resolutely opposes these actions that use commercial means as a way to malign and humiliate the country and its people.” 

The H&M saga is the latest in a string of disputes that foreign multinationals have encountered in China in recent years. Years ago,South Korea’s decision to allow the US to install an anti-missile system known as THAAD resulted in South Korea’s highly popular K-pop bands being frozen out of the Chinese market, and South Korean supermarket chains like Lotte were also targeted by protests and vandalism, forcing the company out of China.