一项对中国服装零售商PVH（Calvin Klein与Tommy Hilfiger品牌的母公司）进行的调查已经加剧了跨国企业在依赖中国供应链方面的顾虑以及对其在华业务未来的担忧。
中国商务部宣布正在调查PVH涉嫌对新疆地区采取“歧视性措施”，新疆是中国西部地区，棉产量占世界总量的五分之一。研究显示，该地区存在强迫劳动、大规模逮捕和限制以再教育为目的关押少数民族群体的证据。
这次调查的重点在于是否违反了中国的法律，因为有指称PVH减少了在新疆购买棉花或服装的行为。而研究指出这一行为可能涉及强迫劳动、大规模拘捕以及对穆斯林群体尤其是维吾尔族人的再教育营问题。
中国表示不会容忍忽视新疆的公司，并首次运用其于四年前所制定的《不可靠实体清单》规定，此规定针对的是遵守其他国家禁止从新疆进口商品要求的公司。对此情况下的“企业全面评估风险”压力在不断加大。
对于许多跨国公司在新疆进行业务所带来的公共关系问题已引起关注，在中国内外市场中皆然。例如：2021年H&M、耐克等品牌因宣布与新疆脱钩而遭到来自中国的消费者强烈反对，今年春季，数家全球汽车制造商被美国国会调查，因其从一家被指参与强制劳动项目的供应商处采购了部分零件。
众多国际公司高度依赖中国供应商。无论是汽车还是太阳能板，中国都是全球最大的生产国。超过90%的中国棉花产自新疆地区。
欧洲企业发现自己处于两难境地，若停止在包括新疆在内的地区经营或采购，则可能面临中国政府和消费者的严重反弹；而如选择继续运营，则可能面临来自其本国和其他国际市场的不利后果。
西方公司对中国已愈发谨慎，这一行为与俄乌战争背景下中国作为俄罗斯最大经济支柱的角色密切相关。BlackRock（全球最大的资产管理公司）首席执行官Larry Fink在近日的会议上指出，鉴于此背景，全球公司需要重新评估在中国的投资，以减少对中国经济的支持。
对于PVH调查可能导致的另一轮转向脱离中国的动力也引起了跨国公司的顾问们的关注。Wilmer Hale律师事务所负责人Lester Ross表示：“对于许多多国公司而言，这已经成为一个严重且日益加剧的担忧，并可能加重了与中国的脱钩趋势。”
在中国新疆地区有合资公司或合作伙伴的企业尤其棘手。此类安排在未获得官方批准的情况下难以改变。中国政府通常迅速回击批评之声，并明确表示希望外国公司在资源贫乏的新疆地区停留。
德国化工巨头巴斯夫自2023年末起开始尝试出售其新疆两家制造合资企业中的股份给本地国有企业伙伴，上周宣布销售尚未完成且“需经相关部门的谈判和审批”。
在上述背景下，大众汽车集团今年二月也正在考虑其新疆小规模合资企业的未来路径。尽管员工与运营规模已大幅缩小，中国外交部则回应称：“公司应该珍惜机会，在新疆投资与发展。”
至目前，大众还未作出任何改变。
PVH收到中国政府调查后30天内作出响应的要求，并在被发现违反了中国的法律后可能面临包括罚款、限制PVH员工出行或甚至终止其从中国出口业务的惩罚措施。
近来，人权组织及企业责任机构一直推动零售商避免购买来自新疆的商品。2020年7月，PVH表示将在一年内停止从新疆采购服饰、面料和棉花，并在回应商务部公告时表明：“作为全球公司的准则，我们严格遵循我们在经营所在国家或地区的所有相关法律与法规。”
近期，Nury Turkel律师及前任维吾尔人权项目主席指出，在新疆乃至全国范围内持续进行的压迫与强制劳动行为仍然存在。中国政府停止公开关押人数并采取广泛措施打压尽职调查机构，使公司难以证实商品生产方式。
针对新疆产品禁令以及加大对违反禁止性劳动法规公司的惩罚力度的呼吁来自美国需要更多国家的合作支持。同时，美国商务部对此未作任何评论；白宫也未对请求作出回复。
俄勒冈州民主党参议员Ron Wyden表示：“中国政府正在试图骚扰并恐吓遵守美国法律的美国公司。”他补充道，“美国不能让这个虚妄的调查阻止我们国家对中国持续的人权侵犯行为进行打击。”
中国方面否认存在人权侵犯事件，并将向距离遥远工厂转移新疆农村居民的行为描绘为减少贫困的努力，而非强制劳动。
Steve Vickers作为前香港高级警察及安全咨询公司董事表示：“企业现在陷入了复杂而混乱的困境之中。”
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：For Companies in China, Pulling Out of Xinjiang Poses ‘Messy Dilemma’
新闻日期：2024-10-04
原文摘要：
An investigation by China of an American clothing retailer has escalated concerns among foreign companies about their dependence on Chinese supply chains and the future of their operations in the country. China’s Ministry of Commerce said last week that it was investigating PVH, the corporate parent of the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands, for allegedly taking “discriminatory measures” against products from Xinjiang, a region in China’s far west that produces a fifth of the world’s cotton. At issue is whether PVH violated Chinese law by pulling back from purchasing cotton or garments from Xinjiang, where researchers have cited evidence of forced labor, mass arrests and confinement to re-education camps among the region’s predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, particularly the Uyghurs. The investigation has made clear that China will not tolerate companies that shun Xinjiang. That puts some multinationals in a legal vise grip because a growing number of governments, including the United States and the European Union, restrict or ban imports from Xinjiang. The case is the first time Beijing has wielded a rule it put in place four years ago, known as the Unreliable Entity List, against a company for complying with another country’s prohibition on goods from Xinjiang. “Since this investigation is the first of its kind, companies in all sectors have been forced to reassess what it means for them,” said Sean Stein, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. “Many are seeing higher risk,” he added. For companies, the PVH investigation adds to the public relations problems that doing business in Xinjiang can bring — inside and outside China. In 2021, H&M, Nike and other brands faced a damaging backlash from consumers in China after the companies said they would break ties with Xinjiang. This spring, several global automakers became the focus of a congressional investigation for buying parts from a supplier flagged by the U.S. government for participating in forced labor programs tied to the region. Many international companies are heavily dependent on Chinese suppliers. From cars to solar panels, China is the world’s largest manufacturer by far. More than 90 percent of China’s cotton is produced in Xinjiang. “European companies find themselves increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place,” the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said in a statement. “If they cease operations in, or sourcing from, regions like Xinjiang they may face a severe backlash from both government and consumers in China,” the chamber continued. “If they stay, they risk negative consequences from their home and other international markets.” Western companies have already grown warier of China because of geopolitical issues. Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset management companies, said at a conference on Tuesday that global companies needed to re-evaluate investments in China because it is the biggest economic supporter of Russia, which is waging war on Ukraine. The PVH investigation could provide another reason for companies to shift away from China, according to advisers for global companies. “It is a serious and growing concern for many multinational corporations and may aggravate the incentive to decouple,” said Lester Ross, the partner in charge of the Beijing office of Wilmer Hale, a law firm. Companies in joint ventures with Chinese firms in Xinjiang are particularly stuck. Such arrangements are hard to change without official approval. The Chinese government, typically quick to push back against criticism, has made clear it wants foreign companies to stay in Xinjiang, a poor region that it wants to develop. BASF, the German chemical giant, started trying to sell its stakes in both of its Xinjiang manufacturing joint ventures to its state-owned partner in late 2023. Last week, BASF said the sales had not been completed and were “subject to negotiations and required approvals of the relevant authorities.” Volkswagen, the German automaker, said in February that it was examining “the future direction” of its small joint venture in Xinjiang, where the staff and scale of operations had already shrunk considerably. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by saying companies should “cherish the opportunity to invest and develop in Xinjiang.” VW has yet to announce any changes. PVH was given 30 days to respond to the government’s claims. If PVH is found to have violated China’s laws, penalties could include fines and travel limits on PVH employees, or even a halt to the company’s exports from China, the ministry said. In recent years, human rights groups and corporate responsibility organizations have pushed retailers, in particular, to avoid purchases from Xinjiang. In July 2020, PVH said that within 12 months, it would stop buying garments, fabric and cotton from Xinjiang. The company responded last week to the Ministry of Commerce announcement by saying, “As a matter of company policy, PVH maintains strict compliance with all relevant laws and regulations in all countries and regions in which we operate.” PVH said this week that it had no further comment. The Ministry of Commerce has not explained the timing of its decision to begin investigating PVH, which came against a backdrop of persistent trade frictions between the United States and China. In the United States, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act bans all imports from Xinjiang unless the importer can prove that the goods are not tainted by forced labor. The United States also has a separate ban on any imports that contain even traces of Xinjiang cotton or tomatoes, two crops grown mainly on state-owned farms that researchers have linked to human rights abuses. Companies in the European Union and Canada must comply with a patchwork of national regulations that ban the import of goods made by forced labor. China has banned independent investigations of labor conditions in Xinjiang and has cracked down broadly on due diligence firms, making it almost impossible for companies to prove how their goods were produced. Nury Turkel, a lawyer and former chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said repression and forced labor involving minorities were continuing, both within Xinjiang and around China. China has stopped publishing the number of people sent to re-education camps. Those detainees have not been released but instead transferred to prisons, fields or factories, he said. Mr. Turkel said the United States needed to work with more countries to ban Xinjiang products, and toughen penalties for companies that violate bans. The U.S. Commerce Department declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the Chinese government was “trying to harass and intimidate” American companies that were complying with U.S. law. “The United States must not let this bogus investigation stop our country from cracking down on China’s ongoing human rights abuses,” he said. The Chinese government denies that human rights abuses have taken place. The government also portrays programs to send rural Xinjiang residents to jobs in distant factories as an effort to alleviate poverty, not forced labor. Steve Vickers, a former senior Hong Kong police officer who runs a corporate security consulting firm there, said companies “are now caught in the middle of what is truly a messy dilemma.”
