After yesterday’s outrage over Swedish retailer H&M’s boycott of Xinjiang sourced cotton that saw Huang Xuan and Victoria Song dissociating themselves from the brand, it appears Nike is the next one up to come under fire for its stance on the use of cotton sourced under alleged forced labour in the country’s Xinjiang region. As the social media storm continues to build, Wang Yibo and Seven Tan Songyun become the next celebrity endorsers to walk away from lucrative deals with sportswear giant Nike.
Chinese Celebrities Express Support for Xinjiang Cotton
In a statement released on March 25, the idol’s agency Yuehua Entertainment announced the termination of Wang Yibo’s partnership with Nike and that “our company and Mr. Wang Yibo firmly objects to any remarks and actions that stigmatise China. The dignity of the country cannot be violated and we resolutely safeguard the interests of the mother land.” Yibo also posted a separate message on his own social media page under the hashtag “I support Xinjiang Cotton” which has been making the rounds online.
Likewise, Seven Tan Songyun shared a statement in a similar vein, announcing that she has cut ties with the sportswear company and that “national interest are above all else. We firmly oppose any malicious actions aimed to discredit and spread rumours about China!” Like Wang Yibo, Seven also shared her support of Xinjiang cotton using the hashtag “I support Xinjiang Cotton”.
The hashtag to support Xinjiang Cotton that was originally posted by People’s Daily, which is China’s official newspaper, has started a wave on social media. It has been reshared by a number of celebrities that include Xinjiang natives Tong Liya, Guli Nazha and Hani Kezi as well as Simon Gong Jun, Xiao Zhan, Alan Yu Menglong, THE9 members Esther Yu Shuxin, Yu Yan, Lu Keran, Zhao Xiaotang, Babymonster An Qi, etc.
Netizens Turn Their Eye on Adidas
Also trending at number one (as of press time) is Adidas whose 2019 statement also indicates the brand’s zero tolerance against modern slavery. Unlike Nike whose statement directly addresses the forced labour allegations in Xinjiang, Adidas positioned their statement to focus more on the company’s values and policies, allocating only a short paragraph to indicate their stance that no part of its supply chain shall source its cotton and yarn from producers coming from Xinjiang.
Nonetheless, the backlash is on its way with Netizens already expecting statements from Adidas’ big celebrity endorsers like Yang Mi, Angelababy, Eason Chan, Jackson Wang, Crystal Liu Yifei, Dilraba Dilmurat and others also terminating their partnerships with the brand.
As the story continues to develop, more brands are expected to also come under fire for their stance to ban the use of Xinjiang cotton in their products. In fact hashtags for GAP, Fila, New Balance and ZARA have already been trending so it’s only a matter of time before we hear about the next company to rouse Netizen’s ire.
But if consumer’s boycott of Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana following the huge blow-up from allegations of racism is any indicator (so much so that D&G are now suing online fashion watchdog Diet Prada for lost revenues due to its expose), any boycott from one of the world’s biggest economies is bound to make a huge impact to a brand’s bottom line.
Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) Brand Members Whose Celebrity Endorsers Have Cut Ties (UPDATED 3/27)
H&M: Huang Xuan, Victoria Song
Nike: Wang Yibo, Seven Tan Songyun
Converse (Nike subsidiary): Lay Zhang Yixing, Bai Jingting, Ouyang Nana
Adidas / Adidas Originals: Jackson Yee, Crystal Liu Yifei, Yang Mi, Dilraba Dilmurat, Deng Lun, Angelababy, Eddie Peng, Janine Chang, Eason Chan, Chen Linong, Jackson Wang, Peng Yuchang, Cecilia Boey (Song Yanfei), Ryan Ding Yuxi, Zhao Lusi, Gina Jin Chen and Qiu Tian
Calvin Klein: Lay Zhang Yixing, THE9 member Liu Yuxin, Greg Hsu
Uniqlo: Jing Boran, Lei Jiayin, Ni Ni, Roy Wang Yuan
Puma: Li Xian, Yang Yang, Liu Haoran, Guli Nazha and Greg Hsu
New Balance: Meng Meiqi, Wendy Zhang Zifeng
Tommy Hilfiger: William Chan and Li Zhenning
Hugo Boss: Li Yifeng, Theo Zhu Zhengting and Xiao Gui (Wang Linkai)
Dominique
Is it because everyone in China doesn’t know what’s happening in Xinjiang? Is everything really censored for them? The CCP probably has propaganda for their own version of truth and are keeping all their citizens ignorant. It’s really sad that facts are distorted in China.
Me
It is about the double standarts of the textile industry. Slave labour and even child labour is no problem for them, the cheaper the more money for them. But now they have discovered human rights and banned Xinjiang cotton? Clearly political driven.
I’m quite surprised that Nike still uses cotton. All I own from that brand is synthetic fibre.
Anon
Have you ever considered you’re the one that doesn’t know what’s happening in Xinjiang? Because you 100% sound like someone who’s never been to Xinjiang or met a Uyghur person in your life before and only consumed propaganda from English sources.
Kenji Masura
Do yourself a favor Dom and Me, go visit China and see for yourself what kind of country it is before reading into this billion dollar BS narrative the west is spewing out of their butt. Do you remember the IRAQ narrative in the early 2000s. Its the same thing all over again, except its China and its not weapons of mass destruction but Muslims. America and Americans don’t care about Muslims. The true genocide occurring in Yemen isn’t even covered or talked about on western media because the one committing it is Saudi Arabia, a US ally. For the US, if they are profitting off of your country they will look the other way. Sadly, this is just the next geopolitical narrative backed by the US government to destabilize and weaken like they have done so many times before.
Sapphire
So Deng lun as one of adidas brand ambassador Is not even worth mentioning?
Laila
lol, watch it be awkward as heck when these celebs when they continue to wear these brands offscreen. There’s no way these celebs can avoid wearing Adidas, Nike, h&m, etc clothing. Most of these brands are huge in China. Hard way to avoid it. I honestly don’t even understand what’s going on there in China right now, but child labor or any other type of modern slavery exist whether in China, the US, etc. I think that instead of standing up for these type of things, one should stand up to fight against modern slavery. It’s not wrong to point out the flaws of ones country. Every country is not perfect. It doesn’t make you less patriotic. China need to stop being so sensitive to these types of things and start focusing on the bad things in their country and try to better those areas instead.
Laila
I just noticed my comment got cut off but yes, at the end of the day China has the right to feel whatever way they want to feel about this whole issue. They’re the ones who understand it better as it affects them more. I’m not sure what the future holds for these other brands and where they’re gonna go to get cotton but best of luck to everyone, I guess.
HL
Xinjiang mistreatment is just outrageous and inhumane… I will not support products from hands of abused people..it is just wrong.
Reina
The CCP already has a recent history of blatant lies and cover ups, so logically they are most likely lying about Xinjiang too.
The censorship must be really strong for people to just support it without question. There are comments in the previous post mentioning other countries and their issues, but the difference is that in those countries their citizens can call out and push back on the injustices that are happening without fear of being completely blackballed.
No country is perfect, but the lack of choice to voice a dissenting opinion in China is troubling.
Anon
It is extremely telling how some of you view Chinese people with the way you just disregard them when they say something you don’t like, do you really think 1.4 billion people have no agency and need you to tell them what’s right and wrong? You clearly don’t know any Chinese, because if you did you’d know dissenting opinions happens all the time, it’s literally happening right now with the boycotts. But just because it’s an opinion you don’t agree with doesn’t mean you get to invalidate real life human beings with your dismissive comment.
Reina
My comment was not intended to be dismissive.
I was not referring to dissenting against outside opinions. I was talking about voicing a view that opposes the one held by the government.
Honestly to just blindly believe what any government says, from any country is extremely naive. Many governing regimes across the globe have already proven that they will do whatever they need to do in order to remain in power.
I don’t believe any of the celebs who are on this train are brainwashed, they’re just trying to keep their careers.
Anon
It doesn’t matter what your intentions were, what matters was the result, which was dismissive.
No one’s blindly boycotting because the government told them to, they do because Xinjiang is a real place filled with real people and there’s an extreme an disconnect between how the West portrays Xinjiang and their actual reality, it’s very frustrating to think about all the people in Xinjiang that have spoken out against all the propaganda, that are having their personhood invalidated and reduced to something like “a view that opposes the government”.
You don’t have to believe what the government says at all, but I urge you to one day visit Xinjiang, or speak to someone from there, to tell those people right to their face that they’re just brainwashed by censorship.
You’re half-right when you say those celebs are trying to keep their careers, but it’s not because the government pressured them to do so, but because continuing associating with those racist brands, would be disrespectful to Xinjiangers.
Kimrae
.Is that why the Uyghur’s families in exile are protesting and bringing light tot he issues because Xinjiang is heaven on Earth? You are re for sure a CCP mannequin….I have read many testimonies by family members that escaped from Xianjiang and the treatment they were exposed. Even in exile the CCP is keeping a close eye on them and threatens them constantly. I admire many of the Uyghurs that escaped and many became human rights attorneys to fight for their loved ones left behind and their ethnic group
Anon
Reina, you are the one blindly believing whatever the western media tells you, with all their accusations just based on the word of one person who doesn’t even qualified as an intellectual.
Instead of believing real eye witnesses, even eye witnesses from white people and government representatives from so many other muslim countries who went there, explored there, filmed there, interviewed there and ignored even the voices of the uygher people themselves who are living there.
You said “Many governing regimes across the globe have already proven that they will do whatever they need to do in order to remain in power.” True, and most especially true of the US, (who now feels threatened by China) who are carrying out covert activities to stir up unrests and destabilize other countries all the time, financing and arming terrorist organizations, carrying out assassinations of other countries’ political figures, and even organizing a war against Iraq based on a proven total lie – millions killed, a country devastated and not even an apology from any one of the participating countries. And that is exactly what the US have been trying to do in Xinjiang for the last 15 years – sending muslim terrorists from Afghanistan into Xinjiang to inflict bloody carnage and preach extremist ideologies.
Watch if you think you are open-minded enough to seek the truth :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BleNvvqdOKc for the other side of the story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N385vKhXYQ – from the horse’s mouth – the US’ interest in Xinjiang is to destabilize China.
kimrae
Anon every country feels threatened by China’s theft ….not only USA! The manner in which China steals everything they get their hands on….latest kimchi and Hanboc….shows how shameless CCP and their trolls are!
The 54 ethnic groups in China to me are not equal with you, a CCP mannequin nor CCP….many are real, hard working people that comply with system in order to survive….and that is true in any socialist-communist country not only China. CCP and u are evil!
SCY
No actually, it was the other way around. It was the Koreans who tried to steal and claimed that Sichuan pickles and Hanfu dress originated from Korea.
And China didn’t steal anything — they BOUGHT things (including IP) through DEALS that were made on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. Western companies were willing to sell their IP and technology to China in exchange for access to China’s huge market and other business opportunities.
And if you’re talking about today, China is the leader in patents filed. So it’s other countries who are now looking to steal from China
kimrae
Anon, you say dissenting opinion is happening right now with the boycott….you clearly are twisting the concept. The dissenting opinion the other commentator was referring to is towards the government and not private/western companies. It is ok to be patriotic and I admire Chinese people’s tenacity, hard work, high morals and yes patriotism….as long as is not covering for persecutions, mistreatment of others including Uyghurs, falun followers, etc. When someone’s understanding of the Communist Manifesto results in people being killed and silenced, is that patriotism? As a human being are u ok with finding excuses for loss of lives? What if the next one to lose his/her love one is you?
Leo
I just have to say one thing
We stand with Uyghur!
For cele though, they can go save their careers…
popo
The Uyghur detention camps might be true, but this Xinjiang cotton thing is just straight bullshit.
Anon
Everytime I see some hand-wringing comment about Xinjiang, I always wonder how all these people are so susceptible to propaganda to just accept everything the West says about a place they’ve never been to, about people they’ve never heard about until recently. Despite never setting foot in China, or speaking any Chinese, they just unquestioningly and uncritically accept that everything they heard on the internet or the news is 100% absolutely true with no deeper analysis.
As someone that’s not from China or from the West, but has actually been to China and spoken to real Chinese people before (unlike the majority of people who comment on this site), my impression is that far too often it seems like the only brainwashed ones are those from the West. They always repeat the same talking points over and over, as if from a script, and they have the nerve to call Chinese people ignorant.
Oiy
You say the west is brainwashed but have you actually personally been to Xinjiang yourself? You mentioned you’ve been to China but you didn’t say you’ve been to Xinjiang . And even some of these celebrities probably have never been to Xinjiang either. You are supporting that side just as blindly as the other side. So don’t play like you are this super enlightened human and the rest of us are propaganda following sheep. I don’t personally know the truth so I wont make any judgements on either side of the issue. But don’t come here and pretend you are holier than thou when you are just as bad but on the other side of the issue.
And I don’t think anyone here is saying the Chinese people are horrible, they are speaking of the government which like almost every government out there is usually corrupt. And it has been very well known about the propaganda and censoring China does. I mean, you simply have to look at their dramas to see it’s done on a regular basis. They have to use their own Chinese made social media apps, their own messenger services, their own internet browsers so the government can have more control. So these critics are not done without reason. But just like any place in the world, the Chinese people are people just like anyone else. In the end we are all just human no matter where we call home.
PC
Based on your tone, you’re basically support that claim, and I deduct any claims, against China. Have you yourself have never been to China? If you have been to China, which I have several times, even not to Xinjiang itself, you’d know right away the amount of bogus information coming out of the west. Tell me, besides the dark tales the west make what are the evidence? And even when they have “evidence” why do they almost always connect to some special interest against China. Do you know the structure of the western media? All the media are owned by a few people at the top.
Talking about censorship, the Chinese government is very open to what’s to censor so you know right off the bat what you’re up against. Tell me which government in the world does that? None. Censorship happens all over the world, even in the good US of A, and when it happens, which is more often than not, people act all surprise. And then you got to question, why does China have its own telecommunication? Looking at the big picture everyone is aware that the west holds all the card on these communication giants. Take a look at the censorship the big tech are doing, from suppressing and helping to overthrow governments all over the world that the US doesn’t like. Ha, even Donald Trump was censored. Oh and let just not forget the Australian government themselves were censored by Facebook for daring to charge the big tech fees. Or the other voices on YouTube and Twitter that goes against the narrative put out by the west about China. I am on the fence on any government and will not point fingers. Personally, I think China is very smart to have their own telecommunication. It would be disaster if they do not.
Oh, here’s a question for you. Why, all of a sudden, we have all these claims against China? Here are some food for thought: China recently discovered a huge oil field in Xinjiang; China is pose to overtake US as the number one economy; China’s tech is catching up and even surpass wester/US tech; China has 5g (the highest generation of telecom); China is building influences in African (where the west plundered) and southern countries in the Americas and Asia (where the west exploitered); etc. Keep in mind what happen to Japan in the 1980s and Germany and Soviet Union too. You take your pick. Interesting times we are living.
Oiy
I don’t support the claim so please don’t make that assumption and put words in my mouth. I honestly don’t believe either side because neither side is credible and hasn’t shown concrete evidence for or against. Both sides have fallen to propaganda is what I was trying to get at and you can’t say this isn’t true. And I most definitely don’t think the West is better than the East in any way or form. Pretty much every government (and media) on this planet is corrupt, including the USA and China.
PC
I made the assumption based on what you wrote. Are you not proving correct on your view on China? By posting you picked a side. Call a spade a spade. There’s no need to sugar code. Since you can’t judge then why the need to shame others that do have an opinion on either side? I see that you didn’t have a comeback for the latter statements I posted.
Oiy
I didn’t have a comeback because I agreed with a lot of what you were saying. Which is why I said USA and media is corrupt. Are you just itching for an argument or something?
But like I told Anon I’m done arguing. There is no point. You’ll make your assumptions about me and I have my assumptions about you and I’m sure both of us are very wrong about the other. If you are itching for an argument then you’ll have to look elsewhere.
PC
Lol, totally not itching for an argument but for truth. But as long as message is getting across somehow that’s all that counts. You have a wonderful day.
malseg
Oooooh, let’s discuss Tank Man now! Is that Western propaganda too? Us brainwashed sheeple want to know!
PC
You are still at Tiananmen? I thought that was debunked long ago. But I guess many in the western world never got to see the full footage. There was tank man for sure, but tank man was pulled off with his grocery bags and went home. Do more research. If you want to know the whole Tiananmen incident and not just the western conspiracy version, question more and stop regurgitating western lies.
Ash
Yes, that so-called Tank Man being run over by tanks is a western lie and propaganda too. Do more research. It’s been debunked by various sources and yet people still bring it up as a fact. LOL.
Kimrae
Anon make username u look in the mirror when u accuse people of being susceptible to propaganda….u are the brain washed and the most susceptible to propaganda unless U are the propaganda yourself! A corrupt and shameless CCP member! Shame on u for discounting all the torture, mistreatment that many Uyghurs were given…many that escaped and told their stories with proofs, marks on their bodies, etc. In many newspapers around the World testimonies of Uyghurs and their cry for help have been published. When China’s foreign minister visited Europe last year there were numerous protest from exiled Uyghurs in Germany, France, etc.
Shame on you for dismissing their torture and pain as propaganda! Watch out! U or your loved one might be next….even being a CCP member does not ensure your safety! Look no further than Hebei province!
Moon Cho
Anon appears to be some sort of CCP troll calling everyone else’s opinion western propaganda when he/she is the right one. Maybe try reading non ccp filtered media and publications and see how brainwashed you’ve become.
Anon
I like how you’re literally proving my point.
Moon Cho
That you’re a troll?
Anon
I would love to see you refute any of my points, until then I’ll enjoy watching your complete lack of self-awareness.
Kimrae
Yes….indeed! Anon Keps accusing the West for propaganda when the exiled Uyghurs voices, testimonies of torture were published in Australia, UK, USA, Sweden, France, etc.
The latest story i have read was about an Uyghurs engineer that settled in France and was called to go and finalize her retirement papers in Xianjiang only to be arrested upon her arrival because her daughter carries the Uighur flag at one of the protests in Paris. She was tortured for years and her only escaped was to give in to the ‘propaganda’ that CCP wants the best for Uyghurs and helped her developed to be a matured adult.
Anon we don’t have to prove u wrong….the Uyghurs and their molested bodies are more than evidence that anyone wants
Anon
“Have you actually personally been to Xinjiang yourself?” Yes I have, anything else?
There are no both sides to this, you simply lack the perspective. The Chinese government is inseparable from the people, people who say they hate the government and not the people are almost always racist against the people too, and it’s pretty inhumane to look at a government that has improved the lives of so many people and say that you hate them and want them overthrown.
They have their own internet because of many reasons but some of them are because they don’t want the propaganda and censoring the US does, propaganda that apparently so many people think they aren’t susceptible to yet somehow always end up parroting the same talking points when it comes to China. And the censoring, you know the US censors Uyghurs who post on American social media when they try to refute lies by westerners right? I think that’s a little bit more important than some dramas.
If westerners really think they aren’t susceptible to the propaganda the west puts out, then explain why so many commenters here, and pretty much everywhere on the English speaking internet, seem to repeat the same things over and over again when it comes to China, despite being able to tell from what they’ve said that they’ve never been to China or speak Chinese or even interacted with a Chinese person before. It’s clear they only get their news from English speaking sources, which I’m sure is completely fair and neutral and totally not propaganda right?
Oiy
Being against a government doesn’t mean being against the people. I hate my government so does that now mean I hate all my people including myself? Definitely not. I have a deep appreciation for the Chinese people and their history and their culture but that also doesn’t mean I have to support their government. I don’t like how their government operates just like how I don’t like how my government operates. But my deep appreciation is one reason I love Chinese dramas. I’ve even signed up to learn Mandarin as I would love to visit and explore China and their people but would like to speak to them in their native language when I do so. So please stop making huge sweeping assumptions about me when you truly know absolutely nothing about me.
And I never said the west doesn’t do propaganda. I even said the other side is falling to propaganda but you chose to ignore that I guess. And I also know the west censors stuff. I also know the west has many corrupt governments (mine being one which is why I don’t support it, but I guess according to you this means I’m racist and hate all the people in my country because I don’t). But what I was saying is China isn’t any better. So stop pretending they are the holy bastion of humanity because they are just as bad as the west, maybe not in the same ways, but you are going to be hard pressed to find a non-corrupt government in the world, including the US and China. But this is also why I am choosing to not believe either side unless there is concrete evidence, because I know both sides are very skilled at propaganda and trying to get others to see what they want you to see.
Anyways, I’m not going to keep arguing this. Think what you will of me, I really don’t care what some random anon on the net thinks or thinks they know about me. Please do have a wonderful day.
Anon
It’s like you’re actively choosing not to empathize with the reasons why Chinese people support their government so much, what does your feelings about your government have anything to do with how Chinese people feel about their government?
I’m glad you’re learning Mandarin and I sincerely hope you’ll visit China one day and gain some perspective.
PC
Lol, yeah, makes no sense how Oiy make that connection between her government and the Chinese government/Chinese people, which is almost one and the same. I guess Oiy has never known another form of governing.
QH
“Chinese government/Chinese people”? Are you equating the two? If so, then yikes.
The only way a government is “the same” as its people is if the government FORCES the people to be same, because of the nature of humans and power imbalances.
And yes, that’s true for everyone, for all of history, including for China too. Mandate of Heaven, Confucianism, Legalism all have to do with the imbalance of power and how to address that to prevent and deal with corrupt government. Chinese culture has a tradition of denouncing “tan guan” (corrupt officials), and praising rulers who didn’t tyrannize the people. Even WITH that culture, the reverse is still the exception.
Did the people think they were “the same as” Qin Shihuang’s government, while the government was burning the books and burying the scholars? Did the people think they were “the same as” the Zhu Yuanzhang’s government, while his Jingyiwei secret police purged and slaughtered tens of thousands of people, and while he tried to remove Mengzi from the Temple of Confucius because Mengzi says “the people are the most important in the government”? Did the people think they were “the same as” the Mao Zedong’s government, or the Gang of Four, if you prefer, when the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution meant we may never know how many millions of people were starved, beaten, and executed. Even Deng Xiaoping, who led China’s amazing growth in the ’80s, (fortunately!) officially recognized that the Cultural Revolution was one of the worst mistakes and disasters EVER to happen to the Party since its beginning. It doesn’t mean these governments didn’t have tremendous accomplishments, but government and people, in China, in the West, anywhere, are not the same and never will be.
So by saying the Chinese government and Chinese people are the same, you’re agreeing you’re brainwashed and oppressed, because that’s the only way government and people can be the same. Hope you can [re]think! The Chinese people are incredible, and the Chinese culture is rich and colorful. Please don’t dirty them by equating them to the government.
PC
Hahahaha, let me laugh. I wrote a two paragraphs response but discarded them. Let me instead settled for lololololol.
QH
As long as you rethought, it doesn’t matter if you admit it. Well done!
neen
I just find it strange that these brands…not just one but MANY brands are being boycotted by China…why so many if there really isn’t an issue? No brand would just randomly cause issues and get boycotted by a whole nation if there wasn’t an issue behind it. Facts please, I would like to see FACTS.
PC
Don’t you find it interesting that all those brands are western/US brands? You wanted facts, where are the facts from those brands? How come when facts presented itself against western powers/US all is quiet? Take all the war crimes the US and its allies committed and are still today. Where are outrages from the public, the media, anyone? If western countries care so much about human rights of any kind they should first look at home then where their 800+ military bases are and their troops are currently station.
To get you started on some fact based reporting, not just on China but other countries, here’s an excellent, real journalism, site to check it out: thegrayzone.com. Here’s their latest article on Xinjiang, China: https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/17/report-uyghur-genocide-sham-university-neocon-punish-china/
PC
Hah, my comment is “under moderator’s review”. Weird that. Here’s a true journalistic website you can start: http://www.thegrayzone. You will find some fascinating facts you’ve never heard about before.
https://bit.ly/3rrGGfM
PC
Hah, my comment is “under moderator’s review”. Weird that. Here’s a true journalistic website you can start: http://www.thegrayzone. You will find some fascinating facts you’ve never heard about before.
PC
Hah, my comments are “under moderator’s review”. Weird that. Try again. Here’s a true journalistic website you can start: thegrayzone.com. You will find some fascinating facts you’ve never heard about before.
Blueberry Twist
I don’t think the celebrities are doing anything wrong. They are just protecting their backs and if they don’t say something, the netizens will definitely point it out.
I won’t say anything about the government, but if China ends up banning all those brands, those companies will not be the only ones to take a hit. In fact, a lot of these companies have factories/stores in China or at least their items are partially made in China. China is known as a buying powerhouse with its large population. If these brands are banned, the companies might downsize, and I’m sure there will be a lot of workers in China who find themselves jobless.
Obviously these people can still find other jobs, but I think it will be hard. Same goes with the stores and workers in other countries.
In the end, this is very much a lose-lose situation.
Even an “unofficial ban” can be harmful to worldwide economy.
As for slavery in XinJiang, I’m still skeptical. Unless there is any evidence, I’ll hold back on commenting. I just want to say that if the companies are really doing something great by doing more ethical and humane business, then I am very happy and I support that. But if this is just a political game, then I can say that is what I had expected. After all, most governments and businesses aren’t clean.
Medan
Talking about US and human rights. Do you all know what happen with most of the Native American ? Where are they now ? Why no one mention this on any news or newspaper ? Go and search the history of this Native American and why most of them disappeared from their own land. Most of western countries like to put blame to others than reflecting on themselves.
neen
My ancestors were driven out of China, we fought centuries ago like Native Americans….China too need to reflect on themselves right? Just saying, if you wanted to bring up century’s old situations both the U.S. and China had…
Bubblegum
Just want to point out that a lot of people are aware and actively advocate for the Indigenous people in North America, and do speak out about the horrible history and genocide that colonizers did (and racism that still happens to this day). It’s why there is a huge movement to abolish Columbus Day and instead change it to Indigenous Peoples Day. Many people want to celebrate the indigenous people of North America and not the colonizer Columbus.
Sadly, many countries have dark and horrible histories. All we can do is try and rectify and make amends for the horrible things our ancestors have done.
Mytwocents
Im not Chinese but I watch Chinese dramas A LOT. And I can’t deny that it changed my vision about China and Chinese people. I know that dramas are probably censored and they won’t show us all the bad things but sometimes the narrative we got from the western media is sooo different from the feeling I have that I really don’t know what to believe, I really can’t judge if I don’t go to China and see the things the west say with my own eyes. If they mistreat Muslims like western media say, why they have so many actors with Uyghur background showing their culture on national tv? Dilraba just made a Uyghur dance in the New Year’s Eve tv show. If they are forcing Uyghurs to change their names to Chinese ones why is that there is so many actors using uyghurs names? All the dramas I watched with Uyghurs in the past being represented (Renaissance, Song of the Desert, Love in Between, etc), it’s the contrary of what the media say that China is planning a genocide. If they want to do a genocide, why is that they are acknowledging their culture and people and not hiding it? Really if I don’t see with my I eyes I won’t believe the western narrative because it’s so contradictory. And since I live in a third word country I know how it is to have my country reputation totally destroyed to comply with some big countries economic interests (for example the Amazon destruction card to boycott our food exportations). China is growing more and more, and their production prices are lower than any other country, obviously the big companies will buy from there and many western countries are struggling economically now because they can’t compete with Chinese prices, the only way they could turn the table is with politics. So, yes, I don’t think that the west is trying to protect anyone besides their own economic interest but China it’s not a saint, it’s just that it doesn’t make sense for me the genocide allegation.
Moon Cho
Im chinese and the drama are not probably censored…they are censored. It’s a well known fact that all dramas need to pass through censorship before airing. So, what you is the cleaned up version. Have you ever seen any drama with a corrupted CCP government? Never right? That would never pass censorship. Also, besides Dilraba and this another Uyghur actress (don’t remember her name)..how many more can you name out of hundreds of Asian actresses? She’s famous in her own right and it’s not because of her ethnicity.
Anon
No no, there are way more than two actresses who are of Uyguhr descent… There are a quite a few of different minorities including Uyghur in the Chinese entertainment business, from acttors/ actresses, models, singers, idols,…
The most popular and well known uyghur/xinjiang is Dilreba but there are more in the entertainment business, waaaay more than you think. A few to name: Dilreba, Madina Memet, Gulnezer Bextiyar, Tong Liya, Merxat Yalkun, Hani Kyzy, Curley Gao (from Bon Bon Girls 303), Dai Si, Wei Ni, a few to name and not to mention there are sportspeople, dancers, models, singers and more….
fun Fact: Dilreba became well known because she played a role of Uyghur descent before she became mainstream because of jaywalk studio, she also dances uyghur dances on broadcast and all
Kimrae
The Uyghur actresses are doing right by condemning the boycott after all it creates financial hardship for their ethnic group. I don’t think their actions are saying there is no ‘ethnic cleansing in Xianjiang’
I am against the boycott of cotton from Xianjiang and I am against the brutal treatment of Uyghurs that are going through forced enlightenment that is nothing else than ethnic cleansing. I know by heart the flag of Uyghurs because of the relentless Uyghurs that work hard to shed light on the persecution against the atrocities they experienced and still are experiencing as we speak.
I also read about the Falun Gong killing via organ harvesting. There is a famous artist in Canada that painted snaps of reality….many Westerners are having problems digesting it. Many exiled Falun Gong members are artists and need to conceal their identities since CCP sends their killers aka Anon to haunt them down. There was on Australian newspaper about a Chinese lady that escaped the imprisonment because of her failed health and documented her experience. Horror movies are sweet compared to what she had to endure …. all real She recovered but not fully but relentlessly goes and shows pictures and holds her sign to let everyone know….those are real Chinese people and not foreign governments. Such treatment should be condemn regardless of race, religious background, nationality….is just wrong. History shows us many brutalities and killings: Turkish empire, Roman Empire, Qing dynasty, native Americans killings, 2nd World War killings….we should have learnt something!
YJF
Falun Gong are a blatant lying anti-China cult spreading complete falsehoods!
Source: “Harrison Publications, The China Narrative: Postscript”
“ Organ Harvesting
There are sensationalised claims that the Chinese government is engaging in forced organ harvesting of practitioners of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, mostly perpetuated by Falun Gong-linked sources. Falun Gong is a secretive organisation, and a recent ABC documentary revealed indications of the dubious credibility of their claims. Part of Falun Gong’s religious cosmology includes their leader’s epic eternal battle against the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is well known that Falun Gong is open about its desire to destroy the CCP and overthrow the Chinese government. The extraordinarily well-funded Falun Gong media empire includes the Epoch Times, an avidly pro-Trump publication which ASPI now openly supports. A Grayzone expose revealed Falun Gong’s followers believe “Trump was sent by heaven to destroy the [Chinese] Communist Party.”
The editorial content of the Epoch Times is relentless anti-China propaganda. The Epoch Times makes sensational claims, which includes unsourced conspiracy theories and odd pseudoscience. (Such as an Epoch Times article detailing Satan’s plan to make us into communists.)
The Grayzone reported the evidence for claims of the Chinese government’s forced organ harvesting comes from the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC). Key ETAC personnel are closely involved with the Epoch Times, with the Grayzone’s expose concluding “ETAC is very clearly a Falun Gong front group.”….
(Continued below…)
YJF
(Continued…)
“ The Australian Alert Service has documented the British establishment operative heading the ETAC’s “China Tribunal”, Sir Geoffrey Nice, QC, who has “made a career of peddling false charges against Anglo-American geopolitical targets”. Nice has previously levelled discredited claims against Yugoslavia and Syria, and is now heading a new “Independent UK Tribunal” to probe Uyghur genocide claims, under request from the World Uyghur Congress.
A 2017 expose from the Washington Postreported on the Chinese government’s previous practise of harvesting organs from prisoners condemned to death by criminal courts, in an unethical system which was abhorred internationally. The Post reports on the history of the Chinese government’s change of practice, to a now voluntary organ donor register. The Chinese government’s declaration that organ harvesting of prisoners no longer occurs is still met with disbelief in some Western countries. The Post reports that in 2016, “the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning “state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting” in China … and accusing the Communist Party of killing prisoners of conscience — held in secret, outside the usual criminal prisons — to feed the transplant industry.” When she introduced the House resolution condemning China’s organ-transplant system, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen “accused the “ruthless dictatorship” running China of persecuting peaceful practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, and of the “sickening and unethical practice” of harvesting organs without consent.”
However, the Post declared its own research “undercut these allegations”,…
Stardust
“Have you ever seen any drama with a corrupted CCP government? Never right?”
Then you should watch the C-dramas “Minning Town” and “The Long Night”. They prove you wrong.
Don’t try to sound like a know-it-all. And claiming to be Chinese does not automatically validate your comments.
Also, you do realise that China is not the only country in the world that censors its TV content? In fact, almost every country has a censorship board or authority that sets rules and regulations for what can air on the TV networks, and reviews show content before their release. Every country also has the right to determine how strict they want to be in terms of their censorship rules. There’s nothing wrong with that.
And why are you complaining about there being only a few famous Uyghur actresses when the Uyghurs only comprise 0.8% of China’s entire population? Since they make up such a tiny proportion of the total population, it’s to be expected. And why are you referring to “hundreds of Asian actresses”? Are you trying to lump Korean, Japanese, Thai, Filipino etc actresses into the total too, which makes no sense when we’re talking about China here.
Kimrae
I don’t care about Chinese entertainers severing ties with Nike….I liked Yibo for his straightforwardness but now I need to reconsider. The greatest artist in Asia, G Dragon is still a spokesman and graphic artist for Nike. That’s all I care!
Nike does not hold the moral ground to talk about human rights and neither is China. I condemn the treatment of Uyghurs that has been reported by Uyghurs that escaped China numerous of times and they are relentlessly bringing light to the treatment of Uyghurs in Xianjiang province. However, boycotting the cotton form Xianjiang is not the best route to condemn the treatment since the Uyghurs depend on selling their cotton. The boycott will bring more hardship for this ethnic group that already has suffered greatly.