On March 24, the “Central Committee of the Communist Youth League” microblogging account intensively posted a statement issued by the Swedish fashion company H&M in October 2020 that it did not use Xinjiang cotton to stir up nationalist sentiments. (Screenshot from Weibo)
Today (March 24), the Communist Party of China’s “Communist Youth League Central Committee” microblogging account intensively posted an article, rehashing a statement issued by Swedish fashion brand H&M in October 2020 against the persecution of human rights in Xinjiang, which did not use Xinjiang cotton, and the Communist Party’s major official media outlets went into overdrive to bombard H&M, calling for a universal boycott, and major e-commerce companies have taken it off the shelves. This move by the Chinese Communist Party is believed to be related to the recent sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials in Europe and the United States for violating human rights in Xinjiang.
At 10:48 a.m. Beijing Time today, the Communist Youth League Central issued a screenshot of H&M’s “Statement on Due Diligence” in English and Chinese on Weibo. The statement shows that the company is deeply concerned about allegations of forced labor and discrimination against minority religions in Xinjiang, and that it does not work with any garment manufacturers in the XUAR or source from that region.
“The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League” said in a message, “Boycotting Xinjiang cotton while trying to make money in China? I’m delusional!”
At 11:40, the account continued to post the blog post “Today’s hot word: transgressive bumper stickers” and labeled the topic “HM bumper stickers Xinjiang cotton”. About 10 minutes later, it posted “Xinjiang cotton does not eat this set!” and also attached pictures text, let H&M “immediately stop releasing false information”.
At 4:17 p.m., this account once again forwarded the blog post of “Xinjiang Communist Youth League,” which read, “There is a proverb in Xinjiang: ‘The dogs are barking, but the camel caravan is still moving forward.'” “People who look at China with tinted glasses don’t deserve such good cotton in Xinjiang.” The text also called on more netizens to forward the message in order to enter the Xinjiang cotton quilt sweepstakes.
Later that night, CCTV and Xinhua News Agency, the official media of the Chinese Communist Party, also published commentary articles criticizing the brand for “actually eating China’s rice and smashing China’s pot”.
A series of operations led to a large number of pinkie outrage, calling for a “resolute boycott”, “let H&M get out of China”, etc.; artist Huang Xuan’s company also issued a statement in the afternoon, saying that Huang Xuan and H&M brand no longer cooperate.
As of now, Taobao, Jingdong, Tmall, Jindo, Vipshop, Suning Tesco and other platforms have also been unable to search for “H&M” stores and goods.
Not only that, as H&M mentioned in its statement, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) with which it cooperates has suspended the issuance of BCI cotton licenses in Xinjiang, which also makes BCI a target of the Communist Youth League and Pinky.
Many people listed the companies with which the BCI has a relationship, including IKEA, adidas, Nike, Puma, Tesco, Gap, and more than two hundred other brands, saying they would not buy goods with the BIC label when they saw them in the future.
The Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece is now rehashing the statement, which was posted on the company’s website as early as October 2020, perhaps in connection with the recent coordinated sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials who violated the human rights of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
On Monday (22), the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada announced travel bans and asset freezes against four Communist Party officials and one entity for human rights violations against the Uighur people in Xinjiang, and the United States announced sanctions against two Communist Party officials.
Wang Junzheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Chen Mingguo, Vice Chairman of the People’s Government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Director of the Regional Public Security Bureau, were among those sanctioned, as was Zhu Hailun, former Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Congress, and Wang Mingshan, Director and Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau.
Subsequently, the Chinese Communist Party imposed so-called “counter-sanctions” on the EU, naming 10 individuals and four entities. The EU and several member states responded immediately.
On Monday, the European Parliament canceled a review of the China-EU Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI), which had been a “diplomatic victory” for Xi Jinping, and on the same day, the Netherlands summoned the Chinese ambassador.
On Tuesday, Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany summoned their respective CCP ambassadors. The Lithuanian and Italian foreign ministries also summoned their ambassadors to express their protest, while Sweden took similar action.
In addition, the governments of Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement on March 23 supporting the above-mentioned sanctions, expressing deep concern over the CCP’s human rights violations against the Uighur and other ethnic minorities, and emphasizing that the evidence of the CCP’s human rights violations is overwhelming.
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