Opinion | Defying Uniqlo Says No to Uncle Sam for boycotting Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

As the world is painfully edging towards its third year of being crippled by the COVID-19 virus and its variants, civilian lives have proven to be increasingly very difficult everywhere: The business sector across the world is hit the hardest--with the flow of human traffic being curtailed and the power of human consumption found crippling--coupled with the stalled shipping industry, the business community all over the world is struggling for survival.

Against this backdrop, no one in his right mind would think of encouraging, not to mention pressuring business firms to "boycott" the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, for which China has displayed a defying attitude towards the life-threatening virus--in an attempt to bring hard-earned joy through playing and watching the winter sports to our world currently at war with COVID-19.

At the time when China desperately needed moral and material supports from the world, the United States is calling its "friends" and allies to boycott the Olympic Games, for example, without regards for Japanese firms and their Chinese consumers who are eager to see life that can be conducted back in its normal way.

And what would the Americans get out of this American-initiated boycotting campaign? It's a plain case of hurting the innocent Japanese firms, the hardworking Chinese farmers in Xinjiang and others without benefiting the American citizens themselves. Why bother?!

Uniqlo refused to boycott the Winter Olympics

Japan's richest man and founder of clothing retail giant Uniqlo has indicated he will not change his firm's business operations in China even as Tokyo gets caught up in growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing, pointing to how Japanese firms have "no choice but to make money in markets across the world".

"Asked for his take on US-China tensions, Tadashi Yanai, chief executive of Uniqlo's parent Fast Retailing, told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that despite fractious relations across trade to security, economic links between the two superpowers remained strong," writes Julian Ryall, reporting for the Post. ("Uniqlo 'will not play the game' in rivalry between US-China". South China Morning Post. Saturday, January 1, 2022.)

"Look at the reality," he said. "The US and China may appear to be at odds, but they actually are not. American financial capital is flowing into Chinese investments. Apple products are all made in China. Chinese export to the US have been rising. Economically, things are going well between the US and China.

Yanai's Oriental Experience-based Wisdom in Action!

Washington is attempting to exert trade pressure on China for similar reasons that saw Japanese imports being condemned in the US in the 1980s, Yanai suggested. Japan's growing trade surplus with the US prompted a series of anti-dumping measures against Japanese products, forcing Tokyo to impose export controls and expands its imports.

Quizzed on why he has refused to comment on whether Uniqlo uses cotton from Xinjiang, which has been the focus of allegations of human rights abuses by the Chinese government, Yanai said: "I want to be neutral between the US and China."

"The US approach is to force companies to show their allegiance. I wanted to show that I won't play that game."

Japanese Firms were Forced to Boycott, but not Americans

Japanese apparent makers have faced pressure to join an international campaign to reject cotton produced in the westernmost Chinese province over allegations that ethnic minorities there including Uygurs have been subject to forced labour and other human rights abuses.

Some, like Ryohin Kaikaku, the operator of the Muji chain of stores, have said they will continue to use Xinjiang cotton. Muji plans to open 50 new outlets a year and expand its network into smaller cities.

Foreign labels such as H&M and Nike that expressed concerns about the alleged use of forced labour to produce Xinjiang cotton have faced boycotts from Chinese shoppers, while Western governments like the US have blocked imports of items linked to materials sourced from the region.

In January, it blocked a shipment of Uniqlo shirts saying the company had failed to provide enough information to establish the items were not produced in part by forced labour from Xinjiang. ("Uniqlo 'will not play the game' in rivalry between US-China". South China Morning Post. Saturday, January 1, 2022. Additional reporting by Bloomberg.)

Conclusion

In this article the readers get to know that the Orientals are wiser than their Lithuanians who are fooled by their American "friends" to work against China's interest, leading to the loss of trade opportunities, and ruining bilateral relations.

On the contrary, the Japanese businessmen who have had unpleasant trade experience with the Americans fully understand that what had happened to them (the Japanese merchants) is now happening to the Chinese in that both are being manipulated by the "ugly Americans" who only serve their own interest. It all boils down to American unilateralism at work, with the purpose of hurting other countries in the name of "boycott".

As the world enters its third year of coronavirus, the global economy is continuing to take a heavy hit, and no one knows when this extraordinary economic hardship is going to end. Logically, therefore, all the countries in the world should work closely together, instead of ganging up against China, the second largest economy in the world, which boasts enormous trade opportunities in these hours of need.

Amidst the American-led boycott, Uniqlo shows business sense and moral courage to say "No" to America. I can almost hear Chinese patriots chanting the slogan, "Be wise, be bold as Uniqlo: Buy Uniqlo!"

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:

Opinion | America and China must build mutual respect if they are to engage effectively

Opinion | Sino-US cooperation could shake up the auto industry