Getty ImagesUniqlo is facing an online backlash in China after the boss of its parent company said the Japanese clothing retailer does not source cotton from Xinjiang.
Fast Retailing chief executive Tadashi Yanai said Uniqlo was not using cotton from the western Chinese province. A BBC interview aired this week..
Commentators in China picked up on the comment and called for a boycott of the retailer.
Xinjiang cotton is controversial because China is accused of using forced labor from the Muslim Uyghur minority in its production. Beijing has consistently denied the allegations.
Following the BBC report, commentators on social media platform Weibo called for a boycott of Uniqlo.
Millions of people read posts with hashtags related to the topic: “Controversy over Uniqlo founder’s remarks”.
Related trending hashtags include: “Sinjiang Cotton is the best in the world”, “I support Xinjiang Cotton”, and “Uniqlo’s results in China have seen a decline”.
One user wrote: “With this kind of behavior from Uniqlo, and their founders are so arrogant, they’re probably betting that mainland customers will forget about it in a few days and continue buying. So Can we persevere this time?”
The online backlash came after Mr Yanai told the BBC: “We are not using [cotton from Xinjiang]”
“Mentioning what cotton we’re using…” he continued before pausing and ending his answer: “Actually, if I say any more it gets too political, so let’s stop here. They stop.”
In June 2022, Firms began to prove Those that are imports into the US are not produced through forced labor.
Sweden’s H&M saw its clothes pulled from China’s major e-commerce stores after it refused to source cotton from Xinjiang.
Several global brands such as Nike, Burberry, Esprit and Adidas were boycotted after being embroiled in the controversy.
One of the reasons Uniqlo avoided the controversy was that Mr. Yanai refused to take a stand at the time.
Western companies remain embroiled in a controversial topic.
In September, China’s Ministry of Commerce launched an investigation into Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger’s parent company, PVH, which it said had “unsubstantiated” allegations of Xinjiang cotton and other products. “Fair Boycott” is suspected.
According to media reports, PVH has said that it will respond as per the relevant regulations.