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Original title: Chinese companies are excluded, international brands are unwilling to announce the survey results
[环球时报-环球网报道 记者 范凌志 刘欣 杨若愚]Borrowing the concept of “forced labor” as a “panacea” to suppress the industries of other countries is a fruitless method in the United States. Recently, it is the Xinjiang cotton industry that has been labeled “forced labor.” Relevant materials obtained recently by the “Global Times” show that to use the carefully crafted concept of “forced labor” to “control China with borders”, anti-China forces in the United States and the West have used various tactics such as issuing reports. and hold hearings to smear and crack down on Chinese cotton companies. In addition, he also pressured many well-known European and American companies, such as Nike and Adidas, to cooperate with his actions, and forced the “BCI headquarters of the Swiss Better Cotton Development Association (BCI) to select sides, causing BCI to recognize the existence of “risks of forced labor” in Xinjiang’s cotton textile industry.
On March 26, the official WeChat account “BCI Better Cotton” released a statement stating that the China project team strictly adheres to BCI’s auditing principles and has conducted second-party credibility audits and audits of third party for Xinjiang project sites in 2012. Verification, there has never been a case of forced labor.
However, according to information obtained by the Global Times from the relevant channels, the “Task Force on Forced Labor and Decent Work” at BCI headquarters is not satisfied with the results of the independent investigation carried out by the BCI Representative Office. in Shanghai and BCI member companies. uses the logic of “presumption of guilt” to address the problem.
A former employee of the BCI Shanghai representative office stated that although the BCI Shanghai representative office has not found any “forced labor” after careful and detailed investigation, the investigation team at BCI headquarters does not approve of the findings. of the investigation due to the principle that the positions of the members of the BCI headquarters investigation team are prioritized., But to serve the needs of the anti-China forces and continue to promote the so-called “investigation and rectification measures” .
The Global Times learned that in the process of advancing so-called “investigative and rectification measures”, BCI headquarters cited a large amount of false information from anti-China organizations such as the “China Committee of Congress and the Administration “,” Human Rights Watch “and” World Uyghur Congress “. There are major flaws in the authenticity, objectivity, and reliability of the so-called “investigation.”
Under tremendous pressure, some well-known international companies also chose to ignore the truth. The Global Times learned that the internal investigation departments of BCI’s partner companies Adidas and H&M had entered Xinjiang to conduct investigations. In particular, H&M had clearly stated in the media that “even though they did not buy from us in Xinjiang, we went to the factory in Aksu and found no evidence of forced labor.” After that, H&M came under pressure from various sectors, including the US government.On September 15, 2020, the US Customs and Border Protection announced a ban on imports of products from five companies. China and a manufacturing plant on suspicion of forced labor. H&M immediately announced the termination of its “indirect business deals” with the Xinjiang company.
The US “Fair Labor Association (FLA)” has more than 100 member units, such as Adidas, Nike and Vetta, and related companies have a large market share in China. Take for example the most common sports brand, Adidas. The company’s sales in the Greater China market represent approximately 20% of its global sales. It is the second largest Adidas market in the world. During the global epidemic in 2020, China is also the first Adidas company An important market that begins to recover. A person familiar with the matter revealed to the Global Times that after the so-called ASPI “report” was released, Adidas had sent people to Xinjiang to conduct two on-site investigations of related companies, but Adidas has been reluctant to release the results. Of the investigation.
On March 12, 2020, the “New York Times” published “Requirements of US Congressmen to Strictly Restrict Xinjiang Imports” and mentioned that “FLA cited” reliable reports on forced labor and other basic human rights violations in Xinjiang. “and demanded its members to conduct research. And seek other resources.” FLA member units NIKE and Patagonia have expressed support for the FLA’s call to oppose “forced labor” in Xinjiang. NIKE declares that it does not purchase any products directly from Xinjiang and is committed to upholding international labor standards.
From March 2019 to February 2020, relevant Chinese companies variously explained that there is no “forced labor” problem in Xinjiang, but it is difficult to change the attitude of BCI headquarters. On October 21, 2020, BCI’s official website issued a statement “BCI suspends all offline activities in Xinjiang, China”, stating that due to related reasons, BCI will cease all offline activities in Xinjiang and suspend the Xinjiang Better Cotton certification indefinitely. During an interview in Xinjiang in late December last year by a Global Times reporter, several companies showed reporters the end of certification emails issued by BCI.
Why is the BCI headquarters so prejudiced against China’s Xinjiang? People familiar with the matter revealed to the Global Times that the former chairman of the BCI board of directors has an objective and neutral position. After “forced labor” attracted public attention, he actively contacted relevant Chinese companies to discuss solutions. However, in May 2019, after MARK (American), the director of the American company SUPIMA, became the new president of BCI, things changed. Unlike the previous president, the new president attaches great importance to the interests of American companies and conflicts with BCI’s objective and neutral position. Due to their tough attitude towards China, the Chinese members are excluded.
At the same time, according to information obtained by the “Global Times”, the majority of the members of the BCI Council are representatives of European and American retail brands. Since membership dues paid by members are the main source of income for BCI, representatives of famous brands such as NIKE, LEVIS, GAP in the United States have greater influence and voice on BCI’s board of directors and can directly influence BCI’s decision making. . The United States Agency for International Development is the sponsor of BCI. This organization, which represents the will of the United States government, also has great influence on BCI’s board of directors. It is these board members who are constantly calling on BCI headquarters to take action against Xinjiang member units.
The Global Times learned from BCI’s official website and insiders that, affected by the BCI Board of Directors, on April 1, 2020, BCI headquarters established a “Working Group on Forced Labor and Decent Work “to investigate the problem of” forced labor “in Xinjiang. . The research team included 11 representatives from civil society organizations, retailers, brand owners and consulting firms, including the Secretary General and Director of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) Shelly Heald Han (Chinese name: Han Xueli) and “Human Rights”. Observation “, researcher Komala Ramachandra, official of the” International Forum on Labor Rights “, Allison Gill and others. The aforementioned members and organizations have many anti-China “black stories”. After that, the investigation team joined representatives from US-British human rights organizations and BCI headquarters to hold multiple joint meetings, which continued to influence the BCI headquarters’ judgment on the issue of ” forced labor “in Xinjiang, so that BCI and the investigation team formed a unified position and intervened for British and American human rights organizations. The problem continues to grow.
The Global Times learned that in one of the research team meetings, in addition to the representatives of the anti-China organization of the BCI research team mentioned above, the participating members also invited the “Uyghur Human Rights Project” funded by the United States National Endowment for Democracy for a long time The head, Louisa Grave and other representatives of Anglo-American human rights organizations, Louisa Grave served as vice president of the United States National Endowment for Democracy.
At this meeting, it was decided to indefinitely stop Xinjiang Better Cotton certification, and even to submit a ridiculously despicable request: any human rights organization (not limited to participating organizations) that pays attention to the “Xinjiang issue” has the right to be informed. of BCI investigations related to Xinjiang. Furthermore, any decision made by the BCI must be externally declared “not related to human rights organizations.” BCI Shanghai’s representative office expressed inconvenience in responding to the above details.
