Major brands try to suck up to China by saying Xinjiang cotton is okay, get spanked by western activists, flip position, get spanked by China

When controversy swirled again in March over Asics’s use of cotton linked from the Xinjiang region in China where an estimated one million Muslim Uighurs have been detained and “re-educated”, the company went further than no comment.

It vowed to “continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton” on its Weibo account.

“Asics has always adhered to the one-China principle and resolutely defended its national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said on China’s largest social media service.

Hugo Boss made the same assessment. The Chinese market, which will generate a fifth of the globe’s economic expansion until 2026, had become so vital that it was not enough just to avoid this ethical, legal and corporate minefield. It had to make a statement of affirmative support for products from a region that has faced years of allegations of forced labour from human rights groups, journalists and governments.

They miscalculated.

By the next day, inundated with consumers and investor concerns from their other markets in the West, both companies were backtracking. The statements were “unauthorised”, corporate headquarters in Japan and Germany said.

For the Chinese market, the reversal was a betrayal. Nike, H&M and Adidas have all pledged to end using cotton from Xinjiang. They were also accused of making “a suicidal decision,” by Chinese state media, but were spared the “double-crossing” badge that will entrench consumer resentment.

Chinese celebrities followed. Three severed their connection with Hugo Boss within hours. One Chinese actor, Li Yifeng, who has more than 60 million followers on Weibo, had the unusual distinction of being a brand ambassador for both Hugo Boss and Asics. He dumped both traitorous entities.

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