Read on Twitter
The former chairman of the Chinese company that
1)runs textile factories and sources cotton in Xinjiang
2)says it partners with @hm, @Walmart and many other int'l brands
3)seems to have taken down its website after @DrLauraTMurphy revealed 1 & 2
is...
the Minister of Commerce https://twitter.com/DrLauraTMurphy/status/1309174359890763784
1)runs textile factories and sources cotton in Xinjiang
2)says it partners with @hm, @Walmart and many other int'l brands
3)seems to have taken down its website after @DrLauraTMurphy revealed 1 & 2
is...
the Minister of Commerce https://twitter.com/DrLauraTMurphy/status/1309174359890763784
Here's why this matters:
The US House of Representatives just passed a bill (almost unanimously: 406 to 3) that says all goods from Xinjiang will be presumed to be made with forced labor unless proven otherwise. This means importing them into the US would be illegal.
If, as the company claims, it is partnered with @HM, @Target, @Walmart , @Zara and others, this means a potentially enormous loss of business, as well as international attention to the company and any possible role in forced labor & other oppression in Xinjiang.
Chinese leaders at the level of Ministry of Commerce, like the company's former General Manager, often have enormous fortunes, and they work very hard to keep this secret.
It's hard to believe today but New York Times Chinese edition and Bloomberg News were both regularly available on the internet in China in 2012. That year each ran a story on millionaire relatives of leaders (Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping). The government promptly blocked their sites.
So needless to say, China's leaders are not known for transparency or divesting from businesses they have been involved in.
Wen Jiabao's mother, a retired school teacher was sitting on a $120 million stake in a company when Wen was in power in 2012.
Wen Jiabao's mother, a retired school teacher was sitting on a $120 million stake in a company when Wen was in power in 2012.
Attention to the Minister of Commerce's finances and business ties would be unwelcome in any case.
But this is the man who oversees trade negotiations with the US (and was previously the int'l trade negotiator himself).
And this information links him to Xinjiang, and to the textile industry, which is particularly entangled with forced labor.
And this information links him to Xinjiang, and to the textile industry, which is particularly entangled with forced labor.
When the US and China try to hash out their trade relationship, and how to deal with the forced labor issue, the US may well be asking the person they're talking to whether he is/was personally profiting from forced labor himself.
In short this is a political and financial threat to the upper echelon of the CCP.
Which may explain why the entire website of a major corporation and supplier to some of the worlds largest retailers is suddenly inaccessible. Try it yourself and let me know if it comes back online: http://zjzdint.com
