- Chinese Weibo users are burning their Nike shoes over a row between the brand and Chinese authorities.
- This comes after Nike posted a statement, highlighting the "forced labor" of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
- Chinese stars have also severed ties with Nike, to mass online approval.
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Chinese fans are up in arms after Nike said it would not use cotton from China's disputed Xinjiang region, and they're burning their prized kicks.
The sports company faced a massive backlash and boycott on Chinese social media platform Weibo after a statement that it released that highlighted the forced labor of Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Nike's statement on Xinjiang was not dated, but was published online after the EU, US, Britain, and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials this week for alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang. In response, China retaliated by sanctioning European institutions and lawmakers.
"We are concerned about reports of forced labor in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Nike does not source products from the XUAR and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region," the statement read.
Nike also said that the company had been conducting "ongoing diligence" with its Chinese suppliers to "identify and assess potential forced labor risks related to the employment of Uighurs, or other ethnic minorities from XUAR, in other parts of China."
The Uighur population, a Muslim ethnic minority, has been targeted by Chinese authorities for years. More than one million Uighurs have been held in hundreds of prison camps since 2016, and the US has accused China of committing genocide.
The social media storm over Nike's comments erupted on Thursday when screenshots and translations of the statement circulated on Weibo, with over one million conversation threads on the brand popping up in a matter of six hours.
"The statement from Nike is f---ing disgusting. It makes me want to f---ing vomit. Nike has the gall to demand that its collaborators can't use Xinjiang cotton. F--- off out of China," said one Beijing user with the Weibo ID Langli Chitiao.
People began posting videos of themselves burning their Nike Air Jordans and Air Force 1s, with some of these videos being reposted over 100,000 times.
"I burned all my Nikes. This is a matter of national pride. We will not be humiliated," another user with the ID Xuanxuan Mingying said.
Big brands face boycott after Xinjiang cotton stand
The sneaker-burning and anti-Nike vitriol is a sudden 180-degree shift, as the brand has long had a cult following in China - with bidding wars and a healthy black market for limited-edition sneakers operating on its social platforms.
But Nike is not the only brand that Chinese social media users have in their sights. It was reported by The New York Times that the products of Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M were being yanked off major Chinese online shopping sites as part of a mass boycott.
Human rights groups have for several years accused major retailers of using forced labor, and recently several brands have publicly committed to disassociating from the practice.
Statements from brands like Adidas, GAP, Fila, New Balance, Zara, and Under Armour saying they will not use Xinjiang cotton have been added to a Weibo list of "brands to blacklist" that grows longer by the hour.
In contrast, Japanese retailer Muji announced it would continue to use Xinjiang cotton. The decision became a top-trending topic on Weibo, with the trending subject: "the survival instinct of Muji."
A Chinese megastar severs ties to Nike
-Chen Yu (@ChenYu122020) March 23, 2020
Chinese actor Wang Yibo terminated his contract as a representative for Nike after the company's Xinjiang statement, his agency said in a statement on Weibo on Thursday.
VCG/VCG via Getty Images
"From this day, our artist, Wang Yibo, will be terminating all collaborations with Nike. Our agency and Yibo strongly object to any words or actions that attempt to smear China," said Wang's agency, Yuehua Entertainment, in the statement.
"Our country's dignity cannot be infringed upon, and we will protect our country's pride and interests."
It appears that Wang's hand might have been forced, after scores of social media users sent strongly-worded death threats to him on Weibo, until his agency made it clear that he no longer had a relationship with the brand and was no longer helping to advertise their Air Max 90 line.
Wang - who is known in China for his love of Nike sneakers and skateboards - was briefly branded a "national traitor" because of his association with the brand. But following Wang's denouncement of Nike, Weibo users posted dedications and photoshopped images of him in full military regalia, praising him for his "bravery."