Why brands like H&M and Adidas are facing backlash in China

Swedish brand H&M came under fire on social media after it expressed concern over labour conditions in Xinjiang. China’s ruling Communist Party, retaliating for sanctions imposed over it by Western nations, is lashing out other brands like Nike and Adidas for joining H&M in expressing concern over labour in Xinjiang.

China has long been under the scanner, over allegations of human rights violations in camps where Uighur Muslims are being held in the Xinjiang province. The US has imposed sanctions on China for the same. The Chinese government has called on these brands to stop tainting China’s name over comments made with regards to Xinjiang. In the statement, H&M said, it was “deeply concerned by reports from civil society organisations and media that include accusations of forced labour,” in Xinjiang, a cotton-producing region. Reuters reported that the statement was from last year. this led users of Weibo— China’s Twitter-like platform to lash out against the brand. The brand was also removed from the e-commerce site Alibaba. China has maintained that the detention camps are vocational centres.

About 30 Chinese celebrities have cut ties with H&M, Nike and Adidas over the brands expressing concerns over camps detaining Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, being forced to produce cotton. Brands like Burberry and New Balance have also voiced concern about forced labour in Xinjiang.

European Union, Britain and Canada, too, have imposed sanctions on the officials. H&M have been removed from store locator maps.

The Better Cotton Initiative also faced backlash from the internet after the group said it was suspending its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang for the 2020-2021 season, citing human rights concerns.

China's foreign ministry, spokeswoman Hua Chunying, when asked about H&M, held up a photograph of Black Americans picking cotton.

“This was in the US when Black slaves were forced to pick cotton in the fields,” she said.

She then held up a second photograph of cotton fields in Xinjiang.

The brands are facing setbacks at all levels. The logo of Nike, who sponsors Chinese Super League teams and their uniforms did not have Nike logo on them. Jackson Lee, the face of Adidas in China, announced on Thursday that he had cut all cooperation with the sportswear company.