Pro-Beijing Group Threatens Boycott Of H&M

A group – calling themselves the "Demanding H&M apologise coalition" – handed a letter to the retail firm at its Tsim Sha Tsui office, saying their online petition had attracted over 44,000 signatures within three days.

King Wong, one of the organisers of the petition, said the firm had "splashed dirty water" on the "pure white Xinjiang cotton", and it was not good enough that the Swedish company issued a statement on Wednesday saying it would try to regain China’s trust.

“It won’t apologise although it knows that it has made a mistake. It won’t apologise although it knows our Chinese market is huge and it would like to continue to do business in China. It is trying to fudge the issue,” he said.

“But I think speaking from the country’s perspective ... a public apology is needed to protect our countrymen's feelings.”

Another member of the group, Jacky Ko, said H&M should learn more about Xinjiang instead of making groundless allegations against China.

"I go live on Douyin every night, and chat with pretty ladies from Xinjiang. If people in Xinjiang really have no freedom, how can they use Douyin every night?"

H&M has found itself in a storm of criticism on the mainland after a statement from last year resurfaced on social media. The company had expressed concern over reports of forced labour in Xinjiang, saying it would no longer source cotton from there.