The storm of boycotting foreign goods in China has been spreading in the past few days, with the Communist Youth League Central Committee, headed by Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party‘s Political Bureau, and the Communist Party’s official media taking the lead. At this Time, only Li Keqiang, the Premier of the Communist Party of China (CPC) State Council, visited a BASF chemical plant in Jiangsu province, which supplies raw materials for Nike and Adidas. However, the mainland media did not mention a single word about Li Keqiang’s inspection.
The mainland media did not mention Li Keqiang’s visit to a German company
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Jiangsu on March 25 and visited the Sino-German BASF chemical plant in Nanjing on March 26. Only the Chinese government website reported part of Li Keqiang’s visit to Jiangsu, but not a single word about the BASF plant. However, several people on Weibo posted pictures and videos of Li Keqiang’s visit to the BASF plant.
“The Chinese government website reported, “On the morning of March 25, Li Keqiang came to the community of Fuqiang New Village in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.” “On the morning of March 25, Li Keqiang visited Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, and made his first stop at Hengli Hydraulic Co. to ‘stand and talk’ with the heads of a dozen local enterprises on the policy of increasing the proportion of R&D expenses added to deductions for manufacturing enterprises.”
A few mainland media outlets reprinted the above report from the “Chinese government website”. Official media coverage of Li Keqiang’s trip to Jiangsu focused on a video forum on the economic situation hosted by Li Keqiang in Nanjing on March 26.
Li Keqiang visited the Sino-German BASF chemical plant on March 26, and the official media were silent. (Weibo photo)
BASF joint venture chemical plant provides raw materials for Nike
BASF joint venture chemical plants provide chemical raw materials for Nike, Adidas and other brands. China is BASF’s second largest market worldwide, after the US.
Li Keqiang’s visit to BASF comes at a “sensitive time” when the Chinese Communist Party’s official media has launched public opinion attacks on H&M, Nike, Adidas and many other brands.
On March 24, the official microblog of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, CCTV, People’s Daily, Global Network and other organizations began to “criticize” the public opinion by rehashing a number of international brands’ 2020 statement of “refusing to use Xinjiang cotton”. Instantly, “Xinjiang cotton does not eat this”, “while rumors boycott Xinjiang cotton, and at the same time want to make money in China? Delusions of grandeur!” Such remarks quickly spread to the mainland network.
For Li Keqiang’s visit to the BASF factory at this time, public opinion appeared different voices. Some commented that Li Keqiang is releasing signals that he is different from those who are boycotting H&M; some netizens said, “You think it’s a different tone, but it’s actually their usual routine. One sings black face, one sings white face.” “The essence is the same, to maintain the rule.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s Criticism “Moves Stones to Smash Its Own Feet” and Few Brands Compromise
The Chinese Communist Party’s storm of criticism continues, but very few brands have compromised. The Chinese Communist Party’s Xinhua News Agency also issued an article saying, “In the past, foreign brands would basically choose to apologize in the first place after an insulting incident, but this time the brand only silently deleted, but did not make a public statement to apologize, lack of attitude …… Chinese consumers do not eat this!”
According to industry sources, the Chinese Communist Party so criticism, may bring the risk of damage to Chinese factories, foreign companies to fully boycott Chinese cotton, foreign companies to divest.
A microblogging commentary said: “boycott a commodity, may not simply boycott a foreign company so simple, at present China is a major manufacturing country, boycott this foreign company may affect the supply chain behind this company, and every link in the supply chain may have the shadow of Chinese companies, affecting others at the same time may even affect themselves. “
It is reported that Nike currently has 107 factories in China, H&M in China with more than 350 manufacturers, employing Chinese workers are more than 10,000.
Mr. Yu, a scholar at Xinjiang Agricultural University, told Radio Free Asia that a full-scale foreign boycott of Chinese cotton could cause China to lose thousands of dollars in foreign exchange each year, and the loss of employment for workers in cotton companies would be immeasurable, “These decisions made by patting the head, the ones who suffer the most should be the families of their own companies and employees.”
Hong Kong Legislative Council Member of the textile and clothing sector Zhong Guobin said that if a large number of manufacturers switch to foreign cotton, the price will rise, and whether the withdrawal of Chinese production lines are also doubly concerned.
Current commentator Zheng Zhongyuan said that this nationalist trend is obviously the result of the ideological head Wang Huning, leading the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the major official media, which are directly under Wang Huning’s orders. Wang Huning and Li Keqiang have been fighting with each other, and it is impossible to sing a double act. Li Keqiang’s inspection of foreign enterprises at this sensitive time is obviously a move to express his dissatisfaction with Wang Huning, if it is not an accident.
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