Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital and a leading U.S. hedge fund mogul, lashed out at the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Thursday (March 25) and warned U.S. companies that “we must stop doing business with the evil regime.
The CCP has driven a nationwide boycott of some Western companies that have abandoned Xinjiang cotton after countries in Europe and the United States imposed sanctions on the CCP in response to human rights issues in Xinjiang. Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital and a leading U.S. hedge fund mogul, slammed the CCP on Thursday (March 25) and warned U.S. companies that “we must stop doing business with the (CCP) evil regime.”
Reuters reported that Nike faced strong opposition on Chinese social media after the company expressed “concern” over reports of forced labor in Xinjiang by the CCP and refrained from using Xinjiang cotton. Bass later commented on Fox News’ “Mornings with Maria.
In a statement, Nike said, “We are concerned about reports of forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and related issues.”
“Nike does not source products from Xinjiang, and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they do not use textiles or staple yarns from the region.” The statement said.
After Nike denied sourcing products from Xinjiang, some users on mainland social media posted messages of burning Nike clothes. In addition, Chinese actor Wang Yibo reportedly terminated his contract with Nike.
Reuters also reported that at least one Chinese online retailer took down H&M products earlier this week after a social media attack on the company said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of forced labor in Xinjiang.
James McGregor, chairman of Greater China at APCO, told the Wall Street Journal, “I think we’re going to see more of this as China [the Communist Party] seeks to use commercial pressure to get foreign governments to slow down [their criticism] and back off.”
Bass: U.S. Government Needs to Avoid Doing Business with Countries That Commit genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Fox host Maria Bartiromo asked Bass on Thursday about her views on U.S. companies in light of the above phenomenon.
She asked if companies are letting us down, given all the bad behavior of the Chinese Communist Party.
Bartiromo said, “The Chinese Communist Party has been destroying the world for decades, but corporations are ready and willing to set up store in China.”
Bass replied, “If you leave that [decision] to the private sector, or if you leave the leadership of the United States to the private sector, then the private sector almost 100 percent puts profits ahead of morality.”
He added, “I think it’s important, from a national security perspective and from a moral perspective, that our government avoid doing business with countries that are committing genocide and crimes against humanity.”
The Communist Party denies claims of torture and forced labor in Xinjiang, saying its measures there are necessary to combat extremism and that vocational training is being provided.
Bass noted that in January, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Chinese Communist Party of committing “genocide” against Uighurs in Xinjiang.
In January, the U.S. government announced it was halting imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang province. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials said they would block any imports suspected of being related to forced labor.
Bass also noted that current Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during his confirmation hearing in January that there was “no question” that China (the Chinese Communist Party) posed the greatest threat to the United States and agreed with Pompeo’s accusations of genocide against the Chinese Communist Party.
Bass said, “Businesses can’t wait among themselves to make more money in China, and the reality is that the evil regime is doing unimaginable things to people.”
Bass referred to a BBC report that drone footage appeared to show Uighurs riding blindfolded on trains. Bass said he believed the footage was “reminiscent of the death trains to Auschwitz.”
Media reports, eyewitness reports and related reports have accused the Chinese Communist Party of trying to reduce the Uighur population in Xinjiang through forced sterilization.
Liu Xiaoming, the Communist Party’s ambassador to Britain, denied what the BBC reported.
Bass said this is happening in this day and age, but some U.S. companies are unwilling to confront this, and there are companies that make more money in China than they do in North America.
“So we have to have some leadership. We have to stop doing business with the evil regime (the Chinese Communist Party).” He said.
Can’t imagine having Olympics in place where genocide was committed
Bass also said Thursday that he “can’t imagine holding the Olympics in a place where the U.S. State Department has designated the (Communist) government to commit genocide.”
He continued, “I mean, people are kidding themselves in thinking that this would actually happen.”
A coalition of 150 human rights activists sent an open letter to Olympic sponsors asking them to drop their support for the 2022 (Beijing) Games.
Members of the European Parliament also urged Western democracies not to stand by and called on the EU to boycott the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. U.S. congressmen also publicly called for a boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
On Monday (March 22), the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada joined forces to impose sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party. The EU, UK 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 US announced sanctions against two Communist Party officials.
The four Communist Party officials are Zhu Hailun, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Congress; Wang Mingshan, director and party secretary of the Xinjiang Public Security Department; Wang Junzheng, deputy secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Party Committee and party secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; and Chen Mingguo, vice chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Government and director of the Autonomous Region Public Security Department. The sanctioned agency is the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Last July, the U.S. Treasury Department also sanctioned Zhu Hailun, Wang Mingshan and Chen Quanguo, Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee and member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in August last year.
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