cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17936188
A lawyer for Shein summoned to a British parliamentary hearing evaded questions Tuesday on whether the fast-fashion giant sells products containing cotton from China, angering lawmakers seeking answers on the retailer’s labor practices and allegations of forced labor in its supply chains.
Executives from Shein and its rival Temu were grilled on their labor rights compliance and how they source their products at Parliament’s business and trade committee Tuesday. The hearing came amid reports that Shein, which was founded in China but is now based in Singapore, is preparing for a 50 billion-pound ($62 billion) listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of this year.
Both global retailers are growing in popularity worldwide for selling mostly Chinese-made clothes and products at bargain prices. But they have drawn criticism over allegations that their supply chains may be tainted by forced labor, including from China’s far-west Xinjiang province, where rights groups say serious human rights abuses were committed by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uyghur group and other Muslim minorities.
Yinan Zhu, general counsel at Shein in London, declined to answer repeated questions at the hearing on whether cotton from Xinjiang or elsewhere in China is present in the products it sells.
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Everyone already knows the answer, just because they won’t admit it doesn’t change anything. People who care won’t buy it, and people who buy it don’t care.