HONG KONG (AP) – H&M has disappeared from the internet in China as the government has increased pressure on footwear and clothing brands and announced sanctions on Friday against British officials in a growing fight for allegations of abuse in the Xinjiang region.
H&M products were lacking on major e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba and JD.com, after calls from state media for a boycott of the Swedish retailer’s decision to stop buying Xinjiang cotton. This undermines H&M’s ability to reach customers in a country where more than a fifth of purchases are online.
The shock waves spread to other brands when dozens of celebrities canceled sponsorship deals with Nike, Adidas, Burberry, Uniqlo and Lacoste after state media criticized the brands for expressing concern about Xinjiang.
Brands are struggling to respond to pressure abroad to distance themselves from abuse without provoking Chinese retaliation and losing access to one of the fastest growing biggest markets. That pressure is increasing as human rights activists are lobbying for sponsors to withdraw from the Beijing Winter Olympics, scheduled for February 2022.
Tencent, which operates games and the popular WeChat messaging service, announced that it was removing costumes created by Burberry from a popular mobile game.
In a high-tech version of the airbrush used by China and other authoritarian regimes to exclude political enemies from historic photos, H&M’s nearly 500 stores in China did not appear on the Didi Chuxing app or on the map services operated by Alibaba and Baidu. Your smartphone app has disappeared from app stores.
It was unclear whether companies were asked to delete H&M’s online presence, but Chinese companies are expected to join the queue without being informed. Regulators have broad powers to punish companies that fail to support official policy.
The ruling Communist Party Youth League launched attacks on H&M on Wednesday after the European Union decided to join the United States, Britain and Canada to impose sanctions on Chinese officials accused of abuses in Xinjiang.
On Friday, the Chinese government announced penalties against nine Britons and four institutions. They are prohibited from visiting China or making financial transactions with their citizens and institutions.
More than 1 million members of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been confined to detention camps in Xinjiang, according to foreign governments and researchers. The authorities are accused of imposing forced labor and coercive measures of birth control.
The Chinese government rejects allegations of abuse and says the camps are for professional training to support economic development and combat Islamic radicalism.
State media accused H&M and other brands of improperly profiting from China while criticizing it. This led Chinese retailers and Internet companies to distance themselves from the Swedish retailer, although other brands were still available on e-commerce platforms.
“It is a form of self-preservation,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai.
Rein said the wave of anger at H&M is the toughest he has ever seen against a foreign brand. He said that companies are especially sensitive because this comes at a time when the Chinese antimonopoly and other regulators are intensifying the scrutiny of internet operators.
“If they don’t try to criticize, they will also have problems,” said Rein.
The Communist Party often pressures clothing, travel and other foreign brands on the actions of its governments or in an effort to compel them to adopt their positions on Taiwan, Tibet and other sensitive issues.
Most do because China is one of the fastest growing largest markets for global fashion, electronics and other consumer brands.
China is H & M’s fourth largest market, behind Germany, the United States and Britain, and accounted for about 5% of 2020 revenue.
Greater China is Nike Inc.’s third largest market, after North America and Europe.
Greater China accounted for 23% of Nike’s global sales in the quarter ended in February, compared with 36.5% for North America. But China’s revenue increased 51% from the previous year, as consumer demand rebounded from the coronavirus, while sales in North America fell 10%.
An H&M store in Shanghai had only a handful of customers on Friday afternoon.
“I was not aware of the reaction. I came here to buy a coat for the spring because H&M is reasonably priced and fashionable, ”said Wang Yuying, a 52-year-old retiree who was shopping at the store.
“I’m still going to buy something because I’m already here, but if this reaction lasts for a long time, I will buy less of that brand.”
A seller, who asked not to be identified by name due to the delicacy of the matter, said there were far fewer buyers than on a normal Friday. The seller said he understood why consumers were angry, but said that if the reaction continues, it will damage the lives of local employees of the target brands.
Two character outfits designed by Burberry in Tencent’s popular Honor of Kings mobile game have been removed, the game’s social media account said on Thursday. He gave no reason.
Celebrities including at least one Uighur announced that they were ending sponsorship contracts with foreign footwear and clothing brands.
Gulnazar, an Xinjiang actress, said she was breaking ties with Puma. In his social media account, Gulnazar said he “resolutely resists all attempts to discredit China”.
Hong Kong singers Eason Chan and Angelababy announced that they were breaking ties with Adidas. Actress Zhou Dongyu broke up with Burberry. Actors Ni Ni and Jing Boran broke up with Uniqlo.
Song Qian, a singer and former member of the Korean pop group f (x), also known as Victoria Song, and actor Huang Xuan previously announced that they were ending sponsorship contracts with H&M.
In Hong Kong, pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip said in a post on Twitter that she would stop buying Burberry, one of her favorite brands.
“I support my country by boycotting companies that spread lies about Xinjiang,” she said.
Not all brands have avoided supplying Xinjiang.
South Korean sports shoe brand FILA said on Friday that the company buys cotton from Xinjiang and will continue to do so.
In its social media account, FILA China said it has begun the process of withdrawing from the Better Cotton Initiative, an industry group that promotes environmental and labor standards.
H&M’s announcement last year that it would no longer use Xinjiang cotton cited BCI’s decision to stop licensing cotton in the region because it was difficult to track how it was produced.
It was not clear why the party chose H&M, whose expression of concern for Xinjiang was similar to that of other companies. But his home country, Sweden, may be seen by Chinese leaders as more susceptible to pressure due to its small size.
Relations between Beijing and Stockholm have been strained since 2015, when a Swedish publisher born in China disappeared from Thailand and appeared in China. The Chinese ambassador angered the Swedish government by referring to him in a TV interview as a “lightweight boxer”.
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McDonald reported from Beijing. Associated Press researchers Yu Bing in Beijing and Chen Si in Shanghai contributed.