Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle (pictured left) is interviewed by TV host Oprah Winfrey.
British media reported on April 4 that a fashionable coffee company funded by Britain’s Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was found to have imported tons of key raw materials from a Chinese supplier located in China’s Xinjiang province, where genocide is alleged to have taken place. In the wake of this, a number of overseas human rights organizations have renewed their statements condemning corporate cooperation with factories in Xinjiang and saying that any business should eliminate dealings with areas that persecute human rights.
The Mail on Sunday noted that many human rights organizations are urging Western companies to cut all business ties with China’s Xinjiang region because of the Communist Party’s appalling behavior, including the widespread use of forced labor and the detention of one million Uighur Muslims in re-education camps, concentration camps, and BBC interviews with victims in Xinjiang, which revealed that many of the imprisoned The BBC’s interviews with victims in Xinjiang show that many of the women detained were systematically raped. However, Meghan, an advocate for racial freedom and human rights, is investing in businesses that are buying products from Xinjiang companies.
Outwardly, Meghan’s Businesses Buy from Xinjiang, Calling Them “Moral Priorities
The business Meghan praised last year and proudly announced she was investing in, the California fashion cafe “Cliff Coffee” (Clevr Blends), which was established in 2019, has recently come under the spotlight. The business’s website states that “ethics are always at the forefront of our products” and declares that “we prioritize working with smaller, family-run ingredient suppliers or only those with transparent supply chains.”
Last December, the Duchess of Sussex announced her investment in the brand, telling Fortune magazine, “I am honored to invest in Hannah’s business, which is committed to sourcing ethical ingredients and creating products that I personally love,” and she praised the business for its “holistic approach to health “.
However, at a time when the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party has been deemed “genocide” by the United States, Cliff Coffee was found to have partnered with a company in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, this year to purchase nearly 19 tons of oat milk powder from Xinjiang. The Mail on Sunday noted that the company had been working with a company in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, to purchase nearly 19 tons of oat milk powder from Xinjiang.
The Mail on Sunday noted that the big supplier to Megan’s venture was in fact Xinjiang Haiyan International Trade, which is based within four miles of four suspected detention centers under international lockdown. The four detention camps include a potential maximum security prison and a re-education camp. The company’s supply chain lacks transparency and is only labeled as “from a certified factory” for all products, without detailing its factories.
When contacted by an undercover reporter, the Xinjiang-based company claimed that its oat products were farmed and made into milk powder in different provinces of China outside the Uighur region, the British media said.
The Sunday Mail was also told that Cliff Coffee stopped working with Xinjiang Haiyan months ago and now uses a U.S. supplier, which in turn uses Canadian oats. The contact said Megan was completely unaware of this company’s sourcing of Xinjiang goods. Public shipping records obtained by the newspaper show that Cliff Coffee received the first of five deliveries of oat milk powder from Xinjiang Haiyan on Oct. 6.
However, according to U.S. import records provided by data companies Panjiva and Import Genius, Cliff Coffee’s latest shipment from Xinjiang actually arrived on Feb. 28 of this year, with a total weight of 8.8 tons. The total weight was 8.8 tons, and another shipment was received on Jan. 31. Shortly after this, a controversy erupted again among international companies regarding Xinjiang cotton-related issues.
Human rights group: Companies must be held accountable for business ties to Xinjiang
Human rights activists have condemned the practice of companies trading with Xinjiang companies after news broke that Megan’s Investment Enterprises was trading with Xinjiang. Chloe Cranston of Anti-Slavery International said, “It is virtually impossible for any workplace in the Uighur region to have products that are not made with forced labor, so no responsible business should want to trade with any organization there. to trade. This situation is a human rights crisis the likes of which we have not seen since World War II, and it is now a situation where companies must choose whether they want to be on the right side of history.”
He said, “Any investor, no matter who they are, should hold their investment companies accountable for their (business) ties to the Uighur region.”
Penelope Kyritsis of the Washington, D.C.-based Workers Rights Consortium warned that dealing with companies based in Urumqi is “a huge red flag. She said, “Our position is that no company should do any business in the Uyghur region.”
In recent times, many international companies such as fashion giants H&M, Burberry, Nike, Adidas and Marks & Spencer have declared their refusal to source cotton from Xinjiang for fear of using forced labor products, sparking a wave of boycotts instigated by the Communist Party.
In the last year, at least five organizations have said they will no longer help companies audit their supply chains in Xinjiang because workers cannot speak out without retaliation.
Xinjiang Importers and Exporters Operate Suspiciously on Alibaba Sales
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (The Australian Strategic Policy Institute) noted that Xinjiang Haiyan is located in a business park in Urumqi, a city where more than 20 suspicious detention facilities have come to light, including four near Xinjiang Haiyan’s offices. The business has been accused of operating in a highly suspicious manner and offering foreign trade on Alibaba.
The company’s website states that all of its products “come from certified factories,” but does not detail the actual locations and status of the more than 300 factories and distributors it claims to have.
Foreign media have uncovered that some of the prominent exterior images on the company’s industrial building website may have been lifted from other companies, with some of the stock images allegedly identical to those of other mainland companies. Xinjiang Haiyan’s company logo also appears to have been manipulated and placed from the images to make it appear as if it had been carved into the top of a building.
An undercover Sunday Mail reporter contacted Xinjiang Haiyan, whose sales director, Catherine Zhang, said the company could supply 344 tons of oat milk powder a month and now has customers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The company’s website, Cliff Coffee’s shipping records, and an invoice for the oat milk powder all indicate that the company is located in Urumqi. The company sells its products on Alibaba, and the “origin” of the product is Xinjiang.
But Ms. Zhang told undercover reporters posing as potential customers that the oats are grown in Inner Mongolia, another Chinese province, and processed into milk powder in the central Chinese city of Xi’an.
In January, the U.S. accused the Chinese Communist government of genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. Proposed legislation in the U.S. Congress debates banning imports of products from the region. Unless it is proven that the products are not produced with forced labor, which experts believe is unlikely.
Meghan’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment. But sources close to Meghan said she would never cooperate with any organization that does not adhere to the highest ethical standards and human rights protections.
When contacted by British media last week, a representative for Cliff Coffee said, “I have no personal knowledge of this issue and am confident that Cliff would never knowingly use the products of a company that takes that approach. Thank you for bringing this development to our attention.”
Recent Comments