According to Japan's Sankei Shimbun and NHK, on July 2, Matsuzaki Xiao, president of the good product program of the parent company of the well-known Japanese brand MUJI, made it clear that the company will continue to use Xinjiang cotton.
Japan's NHK reported: The Good Products Program said that Xinjiang cotton "has no major violations" and will continue to be used
At the company's financial briefing on the same day, some people claimed that there may be so-called "forced labor" in the production of cotton in Xinjiang. In response, Matsuzaki said that every year a third-party agency conducts a surveillance survey of the production farms of the cotton used in the company's products, and the investigation in April this year "found no human rights violations", so the company will continue to use Xinjiang cotton.
Matsuzaki added, "We are confident of using cotton grown in Xinjiang, and there is no change in this attitude. ”
Akira Matsuzaki, President of the Good Products Program, muji's parent company (Photo: NHK, Japan)
At the press conference, in response to the French prosecutor's investigation of four fashion retailers, including Uniqlo (France) and Inditex, the parent company of Spanish fashion brand Zara, on the grounds that they were suspected of concealing so-called "crimes against humanity" in the Xinjiang region, Matsuzaki said that the company had not yet received an investigation application from European and American government agencies.
This is not the first time that MUJI has made a statement on Xinjiang cotton. Earlier this year, Swedish fashion brand H&M sparked outrage over its boycott of Xinjiang cotton, which triggered a series of chain reactions in the apparel industry. Muji China headquarters said in March that the company did not boycott Xinjiang cotton and continued to use it.
On April 14, MUJI issued another statement on the use of Xinjiang cotton. The statement said that the company had entrusted a third-party agency to go to Xinjiang for local inspections and found no violations. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun pointed out that this statement means that MUJI will continue to use Xinjiang cotton despite the huge pressure.
A statement issued by MUJI's parent company, Good Products Plan, in April
In response to the French prosecutors' investigation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stressed at a regular news conference on July 2 that the so-called existence of "forced labor" in Xinjiang is a lie concocted by a very small number of anti-China elements in the United States and a very small number of countries, in order to disrupt Xinjiang and contain China. We resolutely oppose any external forces interfering in China's internal affairs by means of Xinjiang-related issues, and we also hope that the relevant parties will not be blinded by the lies of so-called "forced labor."
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