Boycotting Xinjiang cotton has become a human rights issue: Taiwanese legislative speaker

Boycotting cotton from the Chinese Uyghur region of Xinjiang is no longer just a political issue, but has become a human rights issue, said Taiwanese Legislative Speaker You Si-kun.

Since China was seriously violating the human rights of the Uyghur people, it was certain that many consumers would no longer be able to accept products containing Xinjiang "blood" cotton, You wrote on his Facebook page Saturday.

"Protecting human rights is not enough, people should also point out the violators, as only when human rights are respected will there be peace," the legislative speaker said.

H&M and Nike (NKE) said months ago they were concerned about allegations that forced labour has been used to produce cotton in Xinjiang.

Chinese media has called for Chinese boycotts of Swedish multinational retailer H&M, sports apparel powerhouses Nike and Adidas; New Balance; Burberry and other members of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) that have voiced concerns or pledged not to use supply chain components produced in Xinjiang, South China Morning Post reported.

Swedish multinational H&M, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, has been pulled from major e-commerce stores in China and blocked by several major navigation, review and rating apps.

Dozens of Chinese celebrities have terminated contracts or said they would cut ties with these brands, including Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Uniqlo -- a move lauded by state media.

On Friday, the Biden administration said America is keen to ensure that US compes adhere to US law and worker concerns and "don't in any way support forced labour".

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party's brutal crackdown on the ethnic community, according to a report.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the crackdown on Uyghurs as 'genocide'. Beijing has been restricting information flow from the area to scrub evidence, leading countries to make determinations as best as they can.

Since 2017, a massive political 'reeducation' campaign against Uyghurs and other groups have been carried out by the government in Xinjiang, with scholars estimating over a million people detained in camps, some transferred to prison and others pressured to work in factories, Washington Post reported.

( With inputs from ANI )