Reporting human rights violations in China or maintaining access to a market of 1.4 billion people: the decision facing the western textile industry

Urged by China not to comment on the human rights violations of the Uyghur minority in the country, Major clothing brands face a complicated dilemma: How can we satisfy the most ethical consumers in the West without closing the doors to a market of 1.4 billion people?

“This impulse is Kafkaesque. Es la primera vez que las reacciones en China son simultáneas, between La Liga de las Juventudes Comunistas (afiliadas al partido en el poder that promotes the campaña de boyicot), las plataformas de venta en línea, los consumidores y los influenciadores ”, summarizes a the AFP Eric Briones, co-founder of the Paris Luxury School.

The cause of the conflict is cotton: 20% of world production comes from China, mainly from the province of Xinjiang and whose population is predominantly Uyghur, the Muslim minority repressed and exploited by Beijing in the concentration and labor camps.

The production of the raw material is intimately linked to the allegations: A report by the Center for Global Policy found in December that hundreds of thousands of workers belonging to ethnic minorities in Xinjiang they are forced to collect cotton through a coercive transfer of labor and a state-imposed “poverty reduction” program.

China denies taking such steps, but more countries have supported the veracity of numerous reports on the matter and have taken action against Beijing. Last week, after the sanctions of the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States and Canada against China for this reason, the Chinese social network Weibo recalled the commitments made in 2020 by several giants of the textile industry – like H&M, Nike o Uniqlo – does not buy cotton from Xinjiang.

These posts marked the start of a campaign calling for a boycott against Nike, H&M, Adidas and Zara, among others. Some products of these chains have been withdrawn from major Chinese online sales platforms. At the same time, actors or singers announced that they would no longer be the image ambassadors of these Western groups.

“If you are a committed brand and decide to take a step back, you lose all credibility. And if you maintain your position, you deprive yourself of the Chinese market, which is the lifeblood of the world economy.Briones said.

“But If these brands need China, does China need them?“Asks this expert, citing the example of Nike, whose quarterly sales increased by 51% in the Asian giant and only increased by 3% in the world.

Crucial for luxury brands, the Chinese market is also crucial for low-cost so-called “fast fashion” and sportswear.

Sportswear from Nike and Adidas is sold in thousands of stores across the country. Last year, the American group achieved 18% of its annual turnover in “Greater China” (Hong Kong and Macao included).

“Intimidation”

China is the fourth largest market for Swedish giant H&M, where it opened more than 500 stores and recorded nearly 280 million euros in sales in the last quarter of 2020. Its competitor, Spain’s Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has 337 stores in the country.

“China surprised the whole world with this impulse: it shows that international political pressure is starting to bear fruit. It’s clear how intimidating how far brands are able to go»Says Nayla Ajaltouni, coordinator of the Ethical collective on the label.

Ajaltouni is the representative in France of the international End Forced Labor coalition in the Uyghur region, which brings together 180 NGOs and unions and in a press release calls on brands not to “change their human rights principles to maintain a commercial advantage”.

According to this coalition, following calls to boycott China, some brands have “backed down” on their commitments to forced labor, withdrawing press releases or changing their positions. For example, Inditex has stopped specifically mentioning Xinjiang in its “zero tolerance” principles that appear on its website, the coalition told the. AFP.

Although H&M has said it does not support “any political position”, most brands have remained silent, waiting for the situation to stop being at the forefront of the global conversation. One of the few to have taken sides is the Italian clothing chain OVS (1,750 stores), which said on Friday it would stop buying cotton from Xinjiang and urged other brands “not to give in to pressure and choose their field: human rights or business interests.”

(With information from AFP)

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