Opinion | Buy Chinese, boycott Adidas and Nike
By Philip Yeung, university teacher
PKY480@gmail.com
Something is afoot in China. It is a phenomenon whose scale and ferocity have never been seen before anywhere. I am talking about the spontaneous boycott of American sportswear or footwear products. This powerful pushback by Chinese consumers is a quid pro quo for sanctions imposed on cotton or textiles from Xinjiang. The targets of this consumer anger are US global giants Nike and Adidas. The latter was hit specially hard, losing 36% of its sales in China which happens to be Nike's third largest market. H&M, a Swedish retail giant, has been brought to its knees a while ago, but pledges to rebuild its brand to win back its Chinese patrons.
Nike and Adidas have joined the US in pushing the falsehood that Xinjiang cotton is tainted by the use of forced labor. China's angry denials have fallen on deaf ears.
Into this battlefield charged Chinese consumers with a new weapon—a country-wide boycott of US products.
Nike and Adidas have behaved like rude guests in China, abusing Chinese hospitality by badmouthing the host while raking in huge profits. America won't tolerate such poor manners from Chinese companies on US soil.
It is rich for Nike to project a "holier-than-thou" image when it has a history of using child labor, sweatshops and paying starvation wages to factory workers.
Terrorism is a global menace. Instead of joining forces to fight this scourge, America chooses to attack China's anti-terrorist measures. Without verifiable evidence, it has lobbed charges of genocide against China, using this loaded word to inflict its damage. It is impossible to prove what you have not done.
It is simply a weapon to cripple China's economy.
Patriotic Chinese consumers say enough is enough. Their united display of patriotism has smashed US allegations that Chinese people are oppressed by their government. Oppressed people don't launch spontaneous consumer boycotts against foreign rivals.
There is one side-effect America did not anticipate: US punitive sanctions have united Chinese citizens behind their government in a people-to-people counter-attack.
China's international behavior is faultless. America has turned to misrepresenting and weaponizing its domestic politics. Aided and abetted by the power of its media monopoly, when America accuses, America convicts. China cannot and will not allow outsiders unfettered access to the re-education centers in Xinjiang, when their motives and intentions are suspect. For America the verdict is a foregone conclusion.
Don't be a dork. Every single one of the white-race powers, including Britain, America, Canada and Australia accusing China of genocide has a history of genocidal killings or ethnic cleansings of their indigenous populations. The blood is still wet on the accusers' hands.
China alone has a pristine record in inter-ethnic relations. It alone is free of ethnic discrimination. Foreigners who live in China are amazed at how free of hate crimes this country is. Historically, the Han tribe had never persecuted minorities. It is still true today. In fact, China has delivered a whole raft of measures better known in America as Affirmation Action to benefit all minorities---from lower admission requirements to higher education to exemption from its draconian one-child policy. They celebrate their ethnicity in local festivals. China is a haven for minorities.
China can protest its innocence until the cows come home. Majorie Yang, the MIT-educated chairman of Esquel Group, a Hong Kong textile manufacturer, has given gainful employment to tens of thousands of Uyghurs on her cotton fields and was slapped with sanctions. She hired an international investigative agency which had cleared her company of the charge of using forced labor. But the clearance meant nothing. The sanctions stay.
America is denying China its sovereign right to fight terrorism on its own territory by adopting an educational, rather than a punitive approach. Meanwhile waterboarding and using other forms of torture in Guantanamo are an undeniable fact. Where are the international sanctions against America which has slaughtered millions in Vietnam and Iraq.
Other than counter-sanctions, only one effective weapon remains in fighting unfair double standards: consumer boycotts. Hit the rumor-mongers where it hurts.
Forget megaphone diplomacy. Let ordinary people carry the fight to America and its commercial proxies, using the power of their purse. When reason and common sense fail to prevail, it's time to let the wallet do the talking.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | The betrayal of Hong Kong
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