中国因零售商对新疆的立场而全民抵制H&M

美联社北京报道，一名戴着口罩的男子走过瑞典时尚品牌H&M专卖店

中国人民自发抵制H&M，旨在反击西方企业对中国主权干涉行为的侵犯。

这似乎始于一篇社交媒体帖子，该帖子抨击H&M去年表示“深切关注”新疆的人权指控。

“一边散布谣言抵制新疆棉花，一边还想在中国赚钱?一厢情愿!”周三上午发布的帖子，该帖子被喜欢了近50万次，分享了4万次，吸引了1.6万条评论。

中国官方媒体抨击H&M，称该品牌“肯定会为其错误行为付出沉重代价”。

官方媒体还表示，该品牌“宁愿相信少数人散布的谎言，也不愿听到数十亿中国人的声音”，这是政府官员在否认新疆侵犯人权时一再表示的一句话。

截至周四上午，在中国电子商务平台和在线地图平台上搜索H&M产品和商店位置的操作被屏蔽。据官方媒体报道，名人也退出了代言协议，称H&M的行为等同于对中国的“诽谤”。

针对H&M的袭击发生在欧盟、英国、美国和加拿大周一宣布制裁被认为应对新疆地区维吾尔族和其他穆斯林少数民族侵犯人权负责的中国官员之后。中国立即宣布了自己对欧洲官员和实体的制裁。

随着越来越多的外国品牌因其在新疆的立场而受到抨击，这种反弹势将加剧。中国消费者已经在网上瞄准了阿迪达斯、耐克等。

一些互联网用户表示，他们将停止收购耐克，转而支持李宁和安踏等本土品牌，而其他人则告诉阿迪达斯离开中国。

“你抵制新疆棉花，我们就抵制你。阿迪达斯要么退出BCI，要么滚出中国，”一名互联网用户写道。

更好棉花倡议的网站，bettercotton.org，周四上午对中国以外的一些用户关闭。目前还不清楚原因。

在过去更广泛的地缘政治争端中，中国释放了14亿消费者抵制外国品牌的力量，这对企业的财务造成了毁灭性打击。

例如，乐天集团(Lotte Group)在2017年安装了美国反导弹防御系统，旨在阻止朝鲜进入该公司拥有的土地，随后由于国家鼓励的对韩国品牌的反弹，该集团被迫退出中国。当时，北京方面宣称，这些防御设备将增强美国对中国的间谍能力。

H&M在中国社交媒体上发帖称，该公司“不代表任何政治立场”这家零售商在中国(其最大市场之一)经营着500多家门店，但没有立即回复置评请求。

The coordinated assault is part of Beijing’s broader strategy to push back against sanctions from the West over human rights abuses in the region.

It appears to have started with a social media post by the Chinese Communist Party’s youth division that blasted H&M for saying last year it was “deeply concerned” about the human rights allegations in Xinjiang.

“Spreading rumours to boycott Xinjiang cotton while also wanting to make money in China? Wishful thinking!” read the post, which was published on Wednesday morning and liked nearly half a million times, shared 40,000 times and attracted 16,000 comments.

Chinese state media attacked H&M, saying the brand “will definitely pay a heavy price for its wrong actions”.

State media also said the brand would “rather believe the lies spread by a few people than hear the voices of billions of Chinese people,” a line that government officials have said repeatedly when denying human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

By Thursday morning, searches for H&M products and store locations were blocked on Chinese e-commerce platforms and online map platforms. Celebrities had also backed out of endorsement deals, saying H&M’s actions amounted to “slander” of China, according to state media.

The attack against H&M comes after theEU, UK, US and Canada on Monday announced sanctions against Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang region. China immediately announced its own sanctions against European officials and entities.

Backlash is poised to grow with more foreign brands already coming under fire for their stances on Xinjiang. Chinese consumers are already taking aim online at Adidas, Nike and Ikeafor being members of theBetter Cotton Initiative, a cotton sustainability organisation that suspended licensing of farms in Xinjiang last year.

Some internet users said they would stop buyingNikeand instead support local brands such as Li Ning and Anta, while others told Adidas to leave China.

"If you boycott Xinjiang cotton, we'll boycott you. Either Adidas quits BCI, or get out of China," one internet user wrote.

Better Cotton Initiative's website, bettercotton.org, was down on Thursday morning for some users outside of China. It was not immediately clear why.

China has unleashed the power of its 1.4 billion consumers to boycott foreign brands amid broader geopolitical spats in the past, which has been devastating financially for businesses.

Conglomerate Lotte Group, for example, was forced to retreat from China due to a state-encouraged backlash against South Korean brands following the 2017 installation of a US anti-missile defence system aimed at deterring North Korea on land owned by the firm. At the time, Beijing argued that the defence equipment would increase American spying capabilities into China.

H&M has posted on Chinese social media saying the company didn’t “represent any political stance.” The retailer, which operates more than 500 stores in China – one of its largest markets – didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.