Tag - forced-labor

 
 

FORCED LABOR

In an interview in Tokyo with the BBC that was published on Thursday, Fast Retailing CEO Tadashi Yanai said the company does not source cotton from China's Xinjiang region.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024
Uniqlo criticized in China after CEO says retailer does not use Xinjiang cotton
Tadashi Yanai, the CEO of Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing, said it does not source cotton from the region, which has faced allegations of forced labor.
Employees work on assembling vehicles at a SAIC Volkswagen plant in Urumqi, in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in September 2018.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
VW confirms plans to exit controversial Xinjiang operation
The decision to free itself from the plant comes as the firm is battling to boost flagging sales in China.
Migrant workers and union members hold a demonstration in favor of fair working conditions in the Made in Italy supply chain, in Geneva on Sept. 11.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2024
How migrant workers suffer to craft the 'Made in Italy' luxury label
Brands rely on a chain of contractors and subcontractors, with checks on conditions and the treatment of workers virtually nonexistent.
A foreign laborer works at a construction site amid scorching heat in Riyadh in 2022.
SOCCER / World cup
Aug 28, 2024
Saudi Arabia's World Cup bid renews fears for migrants' welfare
Foreign laborers who dealt with harsh conditions in Saudi Arabia are warning about a pending construction boom for stadiums for the 2034 World Cup.
Ryugo Watanabe (second from right), mayor of Sado, Niigata Prefecture, celebrates Saturday in New Delhi after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee unanimously decided in a meeting in the Indian capital to register the Sado Island Gold Mines as a World Cultural Heritage site.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2024
Tokyo-Seoul negotiations lead to Sado Gold Mines' UNESCO listing
South Korea argued that the mines used forced labor from the Korean Peninsula during WWII, and that Japan should reflect the whole history of the site.
The Sado Gold Mine, so heavily tapped that the mountain bearing it has been cleaved in two, is up for consideration for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site status.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2024
Japan should display full history of Sado mine, South Korean archaeologist says
He will not advise the South Korean UNESCO delegation against accepting the designation of the mine if Japan explains its history properly.
A tunnel inside the Sado Island Gold Mines in Sado, Niigata Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024
South Korea to accept Sado Gold Mines as World Heritage site
The International Council on Monuments and Sites urged Japan to provide visitors with information on all mining periods at the site.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, on April 20, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024
'Shocking': U.N. report details North Korea's widespread forced labor
In a damning report, the U.N. rights office detailed how people in North Korea have been "controlled and exploited."
The Shein logo on hangers at a pop-up store in Dublin on Nov. 8, 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2024
Shein steers tough course in pursuit of blockbuster London IPO
Both of the U.K.’s major political parties have met with Shein leaders, according to reports, though neither has come out in support publicly.
The Dior investigation focused on four suppliers employing 32 staff who worked in the surroundings of Milan, two of whom were immigrants in the country illegally while another seven worked without the required documentation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2024
LVMH's unit put under court administration in Italy over labor exploitation
A probe alleged that the Italian subsidiary, which makes Dior-branded handbags, had subcontracted work to Chinese-owned firms that mistreated workers.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 1. Wyden has been investigating links between carmakers and forced labor in China.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2024
U.S. Senate probe finds forced labor ties in automakers' imports
The report said BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen had used components from a Chinese supplier banned in the U.S.
Workers on the production line at a cotton textile factory in Korla, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, on April 1, 2021
BUSINESS
May 8, 2024
Banned Chinese cotton found in 19% of U.S. and global retailers' merchandise, study shows
The U.S. enacted a law in 2021 to safeguard its market from products potentially tainted by human rights abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer.
Shoppers walk past an ID Hub, a Volkswagen showroom for electric cars, at a mall in Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024
Firms with deep roots in China reconsider their Xinjiang ties
Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its joint venture in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China
Volkswagen has long come under scrutiny over its factory in Urumqi in Xinjiang, which opened in 2013.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Pressure mounts on Volkswagen to exit China's Xinjiang region
The carmaker said it was discussing the future of its activities in the region, following fresh allegations of human rights abuses.
A man walks through panels at a solar power plant under construction in Aksu, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, in 2012.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024
Banned Chinese solar goods worth billions find route to U.S. via India
Amid a solar boom, India’s largest panel-maker has sent millions of panels to the U.S. made with parts from a Chinese firm denied entry to the U.S. market.
People walk past the booth of fashion retailer Shein during the first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Shein’s IPO plan to fuel scrutiny over cotton and China roots
In addition to fighting skeptics, Shein is also locked in a battle with rival Temu
The Shein logo at the company's office in Singapore in 2022. The company, which sells $7 dresses and $5 home goods in more than 150 countries, has moved its headquarters to Singapore but manufactures most of its products in China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2023
U.S. states ask SEC to confirm Shein complies with labor rules
The request adds to pressure on Shein as China hawks in Congress target Chinese firms that do not align with U.S. foreign policy goals.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2020
Brushing off criticism, China’s Xi calls policies in Xinjiang ‘totally correct’
Xi made the remarks at a conference that is likely to set the direction of Chinese policy in Xinjiang for years to come.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 24, 2020
China still expanding Xinjiang re-education camps, report says
The findings could bolster calls to punish Beijing over its human rights practices in the predominately Muslim region.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 22, 2020
China sharply expands mass labor program in Tibet
The program mirrors the one in the western Xinjiang region that rights groups have branded coercive labor.

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