Brands see pressure to yield to China

Government wants firms to reject reports of human rights abuse.

China stepped up pressure Monday on foreign shoe and clothing brands to reject reports of abuses in Xinjiang, telling companies targeted by Beijing for boycotts to look more closely, pointing to a statement by one that it found no forced labor.

H&M, Nike, Adidas and other brands are caught in a conflict over Xinjiang after Western governments imposed sanctions on officials accused of abuses. State media called for a boycott of H&M for saying it would no longer use cotton from Xinjiang and are criticizing other brands for expressing concern about reports of forced labor.

“When the stick of sanctions is brandished on Xinjiang, it will also hit your own head,” a spokesman for the Xinjiang regional government, Xu Guixiang, said at a news conference in Beijing.

More than 1 million Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been confined to camps in Xinjiang in the northwest, according to foreign governments and researchers. Authorities there are accused of imposing forced labor and coercive birth control measures.

The Chinese government rejects complaints of abuses and says the camps are for job training.

Separately, a foreign ministry spokesman warned Japan, which has been silent about Xinjiang, against joining Western governments in imposing sanctions.

“We hope Japan will be prudent with its words and deeds and not follow the United States in making unwarranted attacks on China only because it is a U.S. ally,” Zhao Lijian said in a response to a question at a ministry briefing. “It does not serve of the interest of Japan.”