H&M boycott following Xinjiang cotton row: When China protests with its purse

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If you subscribe to the view that there are indeed human rights abuses to the Uighurs in Xinjiang (this is an allegation by the West based on anecdotal evidence, with claims of 'genocide' being carried out), then this is a good example of how the business community taking the 'ethical' path to appeal its consumers may actually be futile, coz China's domestic market is so big that it can still survive without these firms from the West. In fact, it can even use the appeal of its lucrative huge domestic market access to pressure foreign firms not to boycott it....

While trying to appeal to the local market, many international firms are cognisant that they cannot have separate messaging and standards - especially in areas like corporate social responsibility and sustainability - for China and the rest of the world.

Just last year, Disney faced criticism when it thanked the Xinjiang government for facilitating the filming of the Mulan live-action movie.

Yet in spite of calls for a boycott of the film outside China, the film made US$23.2 million (S$31.2 million) in the mainland, a lion's share of the movie's US$37 million global box office earnings.

"If (companies) choose the wrong side on Xinjiang and other sensitive issues to (China), then their business can be destroyed overnight.

"Many governments try to pressure multinationals to conform to certain standards but none do it as well as China because of the sheer size of the market,"