Chinese brands growing on the bloody tears of Uyghurs

Do you know how much it cost to produce the Chinese clothes we wear today? Because of this, how many children were left without mothers, how many men were used as slaves, how many women suffered humiliation and abuse? Did you know that every fifth cotton garment we wear is produced in such difficult conditions, under oppression?!

"Made in China" - we often come across this label when we walk through markets or shops. But are we aware of the fact that countless Uyghur children are being forced to work tirelessly to produce products with this label, and their parents are being pressured and tortured? Even as journalists in China, if we openly speak out about these facts, we are likely to be imprisoned. For example, it is true that many activists were arrested in Hong Kong during protests against the restriction of social freedoms and the end of the region's autonomy. They have been charged under new security laws. Anyone who violates the reunification of this territory with China can be imprisoned for life.

However, China's genocidal policy against the Uyghur Turks since 2017 surpasses all the crimes it has committed. According to reports, 1.8 million East Turkestans are currently being held in re-education camps designed to strip them of their cultural and religious identity. Those detained are forced to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, renounce Islam, and learn Mandarin. Sexual violence against women in such places has also become commonplace. As painful as these examples are, the Chinese government is trying to hide its oppressive policies by presenting the current situation in a different light.

Today we want to talk about how Chinese brands SHEIN and TEMU, the "fruits" of this oppressive policy, have expanded and become a part of our lives, while at the same time being implicated in human rights violations.

It must be admitted that since the 1970s, China has experienced tremendous economic growth. At the time, this rise was also called an "economic miracle." Millions of people were lifted out of poverty, but China's entry into the global economy was accompanied by the exploitation of ethnic minorities. As the exploitation process intensified, the Chinese economy also grew.

According to Ethical Consumer, China has become the world's largest manufacturing hub through rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy. At the same time, workers in these vast factories face excessive working hours, unsafe conditions, and sexual harassment. The meager wages, which are not always paid, do not even cover basic living expenses. Those who experience such abuses often have no way of speaking out.

In particular, more than half a million Uyghur workers were forced to work in cotton picking after being released from re-education camps. According to research, today the Uyghurs produce 20% of the world's cotton. This means that one in five garments produced worldwide is the product of forced labor. Thousands of Uyghurs are producing everything from clothing to various technology products in Chinese factories. There is no end in sight to this process. In the country, they are constantly kept under surveillance, forced to attend ideological classes aimed at making them forget their religion and national values.

According to Ethical Consumer, well-known companies such as Amazon, Apple, Adidas, Nike, and H&M are among the eighty-three companies found to have links to forced labor of Uyghurs in their supply chains.

The same can be said about SHEIN and TEMU, which are rapidly entering the markets of Central Asian countries today.

These two brands have made a significant impact on the global retail market with their incredibly low prices. While SHEIN focuses more on fashion, TEMU sells everything that makes life easier. As of October 2023, TEMU has become the top free app on the Apple App Store, while SHEIN is the second most downloaded shopping app in the US. So how do they attract customers with such cheap products? How do they deliver tens of thousands of new products to their customers every day? The answer is simple: by paying Uyghurs for a pittance, imposing high rates, under pressure, without any contracts, and using excessive hours. Numerous reports accuse the fashion giant SHEIN of unethical business practices - exploiting workers, violating copyrights, and damaging the environment. A Bloomberg study shows that most of SHEIN's cotton is grown and processed in East Turkestan. Workers typically work fourteen to eighteen hours a day, with no days off per week. Their wages are so low that they cannot avoid the hard work. They are forced to do the work even if they refuse. In addition, there is no compensation for overtime, poor working conditions, and the use of toxic chemicals in the process, which harms workers' health. Studies have shown that Uyghurs work eighteen hours a day and earn only $0.02. In particular, the toxic chemicals used in the production process by companies seriously harm not only the environment but also the health of East Turkestans.

TEMU, a fast-growing online shopping platform, is also facing serious criticism from US lawmakers. They believe that the Chinese e-commerce company has not been able to control the use of forced labor in its supply chains. TEMU has also been accused of avoiding customs inspections to ship goods directly to the US. The companies use a legal loophole known as "de minimis". This allows Chinese companies to send cheap packages to the US without customs inspections. Under this regulation, there is a strong control over products produced through forced labor. Today, various reports indicate that every product made in China - from clothing to technology - is associated with child labor.

There are also various global campaigns against the forced labor of Uyghurs, violations of their human rights, and the repressive policies of the Chinese government. Human rights organizations, civil society groups, and activists are calling for an end to the oppression of the Chinese government against the Uyghur people. For example, the Free Uyghur Movement is using social media and other means to communicate to the international community the oppression faced by Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. The movement's statement notes that Uyghurs are being placed in re-education camps, forced labor, and cultural oppression. The United States and some European countries have imposed sanctions on some Chinese officials and companies over human rights violations in the country. They say that global sanctions under the "Magnitsky Act" (visa restrictions on entry to America and the blocking of financial assets in US banks) are aimed at stopping the oppression of Uyghurs. The European Council, in turn, has adopted a series of resolutions on the issue of forced labor in China. The Council has demanded that products produced through the violation of Uyghur rights be excluded from the European market. Despite this, China has not made any changes in this regard.

Many countries have expressed their reactions to China's violations of the rights of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Of course, Western countries, led by the United States, do not sincerely complain about and criticize Beijing's oppression of Muslims, but they are putting pressure on China based on their own interests. Countries such as the United States, the European Union, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, France and Australia have called on China to stop using forced labor, arbitrary detention, various forms of torture and cultural assimilation against Turkic peoples. Fifty-one member states of the United Nations have issued a joint declaration condemning human rights violations and asking China to comply with the recommendations of the UN High Commissioner's report. On the other hand, some countries known as China's allies, such as Cuba, have defended China, emphasizing that this situation is an internal matter of the country and that there should be no double standards on human rights in the world. While such international reactions have led to some progress on behalf of Uyghurs and other minority communities, there have been no significant changes in Chinese policy.

In conclusion, we should not ignore the harsh realities behind the low prices offered by Chinese brands like SHEIN and TEMU. These brands should not achieve economic growth on the back of the suffering of Turkic peoples who are being used as slaves in Chinese camps. Today's events show that the world's largest economies - Western countries and Chinese companies - put their own interests first in any situation, not humanity. Therefore, we as consumers need to be sensitive and avoid buying products from companies that support genocide against Uyghurs and Palestinians as much as possible. Let's not forget that behind their labels are hundreds of painful stories and the lives of Muslims under oppression. If we don't buy their products, we won't die, but if we do, they might.