Nike and Coca want to continue imports of products made by force by the Uighurs in China

Nike and Coca are said to be quietly working against a US bill to ban imports of goods made with the forced labor of the Uighur minority in China's Xinjiang region.

Listen-WorldThe persecution of the Uighurs in China has become a major international issue3 min

Sent to factories in Xinjiang, their movements are not free, and they are monitored electronically or by security guards. Some are forcibly taken to other factories in the country, far from their families.

A list of 82 companies involved

A very detailed Australian report on the forced labor of the Uighurs in China was published last March by the NGO ASPI. It is titled: "Uyghurs for sale".

This report accuses the Chinese government of organizing the forced labor of the Uighur minority in the factories of subcontractors of major international brands. 82 multinationals are named as companies working in 2019 with these contractors exploiting the Uighurs.

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Among the brands mentioned: Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas, Alstom, Amazon, Apple, ASUS, BMW, Calvin Klein, Electrolux, Gap, Google, H & M, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Samsung, Tommy Hilfiger, Uniqlo, Victoria's Secret,Volkswagen,etc.

Most brands prefer to deny

In a press release, Coca-Cola specifies "to prohibit any type of forced labor in its production line".

Regarding the American text in Washington, lobbyists for brands like Nike or Coca-Cola claim to be "against all forms of forced labor" but warn: the constraints imposed by law could wreak havoc on Chinese production chains. Xinjiang produces many raw materials such as cotton, coal, sugar, and polysilicon, and supplies China's shoe and clothing factories.

At Nike, Greg Rossiter, director of communications, maintains that the brand "did not lobby against the text" but instead had "constructive discussions" with people working in the United States Congress "to eliminate the forced labor and protect human rights". According to Nike, none of its products have been identified as coming from Xinjiang and its Chinese suppliers do not use products from this region. Except that the factory working in Xinjiang for Nike would have employed around 800 Uighur women at the end of 2019 and nearly seven million pairs of Nike shoes have come out of it. This factory is surrounded by barbed wire and guards, as shown in this photo tweeted by an Australian journalist:

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Against the wall, some brands make commitments

Last September, the Swedish giant H&M announced that it was severing all relations with its Chinese supplier, which had clothes manufactured in the region.

A decision that came a month after the announcement of the French group Lacoste: