Xinjiang news and archive

The Xinjiang cotton controversy has taken to the catwalk

The Xinjiang cotton-gate impasse has taken another turn, this time on the catwalk, as Chinese designers are pledging its use in their collections. At the end of China Fashion Week in March, Chinese brand Sun-Bird’s creative director Zhou Li took a bow at the end of her show – demonstratively holding a bouquet of cotton plants. Solidarity with...

BusinessFeatured

H&M confirms ‘long-term commitment’ to China amid boycott

H&M has emphasised its ‘long-term commitment’ to China amid a boycott launched against the Swedish fashion giant after it pledged to stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang over reports of slave labour. “China is a very important market to us and our long-term commitment to the country remains strong,” H&M said Wednesday. It comes following the...

Fashion Featured

China accused of forcing over half a million people to pick cotton in Xinjiang

China has forced more than half a million Uighurs and other minorities into picking cotton in the country’s western region of Xinjiang, new research suggests. According to a new report released on Tuesday by the Washington-based Center for Global Policy, three Uyghur regions alone mobilized at least 570,000 people into cotton-picking operations...

Fashion Featured

The world's biggest fashion brands are complicit in forced labour, say human rights groups

Supply chains are complex entities, with far-reaching tentacles that often have little or no contact with the main body or businesses. If a fashion behemoth outsources production to a third party, and subsequently this party also outsources its production to another vendor/factory/partner, it become a murky chain where it is difficult to...