The International Olympic Committee claims its Chinese Communist Party-linked uniform suppliers did not use Uyghur slave labor — at least not for the official Beijing Olympics garments.
The qualified claim came in response to a letter sent by Congressional-Executive Commission on China to the IOC asking about contracts with China’s Anta Sports and Hengyuanxiang Group. The CEEC, led by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and Democratic Rep. James McGovern and joined by Republican Rep. Christopher Smith, expressed concern the uniforms to be donned by Olympics officials — not athletes — may have been made with cotton harvested in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The IOC insisted it had a third party look into the matter, and it “did not find any forced, bonded, indentured, or child labor.” The IOC said it asked for proofs of origins for the materials in the Olympic apparel and said the companies assured it the cotton used in the uniforms did not originate in China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded to the CECC letter by claiming that the CECC is “biased against China,” and the Chinese state-run Global Times accused the United States of “bullying.”
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The U.S. has determined the Chinese government is conducting genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang in western China. President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law just before Christmas.
The IOC announced in September 2019 that HYX would supply the official formal uniforms to the IOC members and administration for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 during a meeting between IOC President Thomas Bach and HYX President Liu Ruiqi.
“We are pleased to be working with HYX and look forward to wearing our formal uniforms with pride in Tokyo next year and in Beijing in 2022,” Bach said at the time.
Liu Ruiqi, chairman of HYX, which was founded in 1927, said being picked was a “great honor,” and “we hope such cooperation will continue as long as possible.” Liu Ruiqi is also listed as the chairman of the Chinese government-linked Presidium of China Federation of Industrial Economics, as well as the vice president of the Chinese government-linked China Trademark Association.
The China Federation of Industrial Economics is “approved” by China’s ruling State Council and is registered with the Chinese government’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The group’s website touts the Chinese government’s control over the group, including a series of group leaders with key roles in the CCP.
The China Trademark Association describes itself as a national organization founded “upon approval by” the Chinese government’s Ministry of Civil Affairs and as “under the direct leadership” of the Chinese government’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
It was reported by Axios in 2021 that HYX advertised its use of Xinjiang cotton in its products on online e-commerce websites. HYX’s own website says it has a factory in Xinjiang.
Bach said that “we are delighted to announce this long-term agreement with Anta” and that “we thank it for its commitment to sport in China as well as its partnership with the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.”
Anta CEO Ding Shizhong is a deputy in the National People’s Congress, the CCP’s rubber-stamp national legislative body, and other leaders in Anta were or are also members of the Chinese government. Ding announced in August 2019 that Anta was becoming the first sportswear company in China to join the Better Cotton Initiative, a group that purports to promote better standards in cotton farming.
But BCI said in October 2020 that it had suspended its licensing and assurance activities in Xinjiang amid “sustained allegations of forced labor and other human rights abuses” in Xinjiang. The statement by BCI was pulled sometime in March amid a Chinese government-led backlash, and the Chinese branch of BCI claimed in late March that it “has never found a single case related to incidents of forced labor.”
Anta responded on China’s Weibo and to Chinese state-run media by doubling down on its work in Xinjiang, saying, “We have been purchasing and using cotton produced from China including Xinjiang region, and we will continue to purchase and use cotton from China.”
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The NBA’s Klay Thompson, Gordon Hayward, and Rajon Rondo have signature shoe deals with Anta.
Chinese state-run media pushed H&M to reverse itself in 2021 on comments it made about not sourcing cotton from Xinjiang and helped instigate a backlash against companies such as Nike and Adidas, too.
