BEIJING – Chinese state television on Thursday called for a boycott of H&M as Beijing cracked down on foreign clothing and footwear brands following Western sanctions against Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
The ruling Communist Party criticized H&M for saying in March 2020 that it would stop buying cotton from the northwestern Chinese region. The Swedish dealer joined other brands to express concern about reports of forced labor there.
The party newspaper Global Times also criticized statements from Burberry, Adidas, Nike, New Balance and Zara about Xinjiang already two years ago.
“For companies that touch the bottom line in our country, the answer is very clear: do not buy!” China Central Television said on its social media account. It said that ‘H’ and ‘M’ in the Swedish name stood for Chinese words meaning lie and falsehood.
The attack follows Monday’s decision by the 27-nation union, the United States, Britain and Canada to impose travel and economic sanctions on four Chinese officials accused of abusing Xinjiang.
According to foreign researchers and governments, more than 1 million people in Xinjiang, most of them from predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, have been confined to labor camps. Beijing denies failing to address them, saying it is trying to promote economic development and eradicate radicalism.
“The so-called existence of forced labor in the Xinjiang region is completely fictitious,” said Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce. He urged foreign companies to “correct incorrect methods” but did not say what they were expected to do.
Celebrities including Wang Yibo, a popular singer and actor, announced that they are breaking approval contracts with H&M and Nike.
H&M products were missing from China’s most popular e-commerce platforms, Alibaba Groups TMall and JD.com. News reports say they were removed due to general criticism of its statement from Xinjiang. The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
Beijing often attacks foreign clothing, cars, travel and other brands for actions by its governments or to pressure companies to follow their official positions in Taiwan, Tibet and other sensitive issues.
Companies usually apologize and switch websites or advertisements to maintain access to China, one of the largest global markets. But Xinjiang is an unusually prickly question. Western brands are exposed to pressure at home to distance themselves from possible abuse.
A man wearing a mask rides past a Uniqlo store in Beijing on March 25, 2021.
Loss of sales in China, the only major economy where consumption spending has recovered to higher levels than before the pandemic, can be particularly painful at a time when demand in the US and Europe is weak.
H&M Group “does not represent a political position” and “respects Chinese consumers”, the company said on its social media account.
The company said it has 350 Chinese manufacturers to produce products that “comply with the principles of sustainable development.” H&M said it is “committed to long-term investment and development in China.”
Brian Ehrig, a partner in the consumer strategy of global strategy and management consulting firm Kearney, said it is likely that about 60% to 70% of H & M’s raw materials, such as fabrics, come from China. He said that if H&M was discontinued, it would be much more difficult for the company to access these materials and this could mean higher prices and production delays.
H&M had 520 stores and $ 1.4 billion in sales in China in 2019, the most recent year for which annual figures have been reported. China is its third largest market after Germany and the United States.
The criticism began when the government party’s youth union on Wednesday drew attention to the H&M statement in March on its social media account. It gave no indication as to why it pointed out the company or an explanation for quoting a year-old statement.
A supplier walks past an Adidas store and an H&M store in Beijing on March 25, 2021.
“Spreading lies to boycott Xinjiang while wanting to make money in China? Wishful thinking,” the youth union said.
The Global Times said that Burberry, Adidas, Nike and New Balance also made “cutting remarks” about Xinjiang cotton. A separate Global Times report quoted what it said was a statement from Zara that it had a “zero tolerance strategy towards forced labor”.
H & M’s statement last year cited a decision by the Better Cotton Initiative, an industry group that promotes environmental and labor standards, to stop licensing Xinjiang cotton because it was “increasingly difficult” to track how it was produced. In September, H&M announced that they would stop working with a Chinese manufacturer who was accused of using forced labor in a unit that is not related to the Swedish brand.
In January, Washington imposed a ban on imports of cotton from Xinjiang, a major supplier to clothing manufacturers in Western markets.
China’s official outrage has focused on Europe, possibly because relations with the EU had been friendly amid toughness with Washington over trade disputes and allegations of Chinese espionage and technical theft.
Official criticism of H&M reflected the complaint that he had been injured by a friend.
“How can H&M eat Chinese rice and then crush China’s pot?” said state television in a comment Wednesday.
Comments on the internet cited clothing brands Uniqlo of Japan and The Gap of the United States as other possible criminals. It was unclear how many of these accounts were members of the public and how many were controlled by the ruling party’s large-scale propaganda apparatus.
Pop star Wang’s announcement that he quit as a Nike brand ambassador did not mention Xinjiang. It said it “firmly opposes all words and deeds that pollute China.”
Others included singer and actress Song Qian, a former member of the Korean pop group f (x) also known as Victoria Song, and actor Huang Xuan, who announced that they would conclude an approval contract with H&M. Actress Tang Songyun said she broke up with Nike.
The Chinese brand ANTA announced that it was withdrawing from BCI, the cotton industry group.