中国政府对美国服装零售商PVH（Calvin Klein与Tommy Hilfiger品牌母公司）进行的调查，引发了外国企业在依赖中国供应链以及其在中国业务前景方面忧虑升级。
商务部上周指出，他们正在审视PVH是否违反了法规，并采取了“歧视性措施”针对新疆的产品。研究显示，在新疆这块中国西部边境区域生产世界五分之一棉花的地方，存在对穆斯林族群的强迫劳动、大规模逮捕和集中再教育营等指控，尤其是针对维吾尔族人。
此次调查明确表明中国政府不允许企业排斥新疆产品。这给一些跨国公司带来了法律上的两难困境：越来越多包括美国与欧盟在内的各国政府限制或禁止进口新疆产品。
这是中国首次运用2018年设立的《不可靠实体清单》规则，针对遵循另一国禁止新疆商品出口禁令而行动的企业实施制裁。PVH此举在企业界引发了重新评估其在中国业务风险的必要性，并导致许多公司面临更高风险。
在与中国的商业往来中，外国品牌除了要应对可能的公关危机外，还要考虑来自政府和中国消费者的风险。例如，2021年H&M、耐克等品牌在宣布将与新疆脱离关系后，受到中国消费者的强烈抵制。今春，几家全球汽车制造商因从被美国列为参与强迫劳动项目供应商处采购零件而成为国会调查的对象。
许多国际公司高度依赖中国的供应商：汽车到太阳能板，中国无疑是世界上最大的制造商。新疆生产了超过90%的中国棉花。
欧洲企业在中国市场面临的两难局面愈发凸显：“如果企业终止新疆或新疆地区供应链运作，他们可能面临中国政府和消费者的严重反击。”据欧盟商会发布的声明，“反之若持续运营，则可能遭受来自母国及其它国际市场负面反应。”
由于地缘政治问题引发的警惕心增强，西方公司对中国的投资决策持更加谨慎态度。全球最大资产管理公司之一、美国BlackRock的首席执行官Larry Fink在一次会议中表示，鉴于中国是俄罗斯的主要经济支持者，并正在对乌克兰发起战争，全球企业需要重新评估其在中国的投资。
这可能为跨国公司从中国转移供应链提供了另一个理由。据全球公司的法律顾问称，PVH调查提供了一个关键信号，“对于许多多国大型企业来说是一个严重和日益增长的担忧，它加剧了与中国的脱钩动力。”
位于新疆地区的合资企业在联合运营中尤为受困：在没有官方批准的情况下，改变这类安排十分困难。中国通常迅速回击批评，并明确表明希望外国公司留在经济相对落后的地区开发。
德国化工巨头巴斯夫已从2023年开始尝试将其新疆两处制造合资企业股份出售给其中国的国有合作伙伴。上周巴斯夫宣布销售未完成，该交易“受谈判及相关主管部门审批的制约”。
而大众汽车，作为一家德国汽车制造商，在2月份宣布正在考虑对新疆的一家小规模合资企业的未来方向进行审查。这一决定来自对员工和生产规模已大幅缩小的企业考量，中国外交部对此作出回应称，企业应该珍惜在新疆的投资与发展机会。
至目前为止，大众未透露进一步措施。
PVH被给予30天时间来回应政府的指控。若被认定违反中国法律，将面临包括罚款、禁止PVH员工出行限制乃至停止公司从中国出口货物等处罚措施。
近年，人权组织和企业责任组织已推动零售商避免购买来自新疆的商品。2020年7月，PVH宣布在一年内不再采购新疆的服装、面料与棉花，并回应商务部公告称，“作为公司政策，PVH始终严格遵守我们在全球所有国家和地区执行的所有法律法规。”
至本周为止，PVH未就此事进一步发表评论。
商务部至今未解释开始调查PVH的具体时间点。这一行动发生在中国和美国之间持续的贸易摩擦背景下。
在美国内，美国国会通过了《乌兹别克强迫劳动预防法案》，禁止从新疆进口任何商品，除非进口商能证明其货物不含强迫劳工痕迹。美国同时独立禁止含新疆棉花或西红柿的商品进口（这两种作物主要来自国有农场，与人权侵犯有关）。
欧盟和加拿大的企业必须遵守各自国家的一系列规定以避免进口使用强制劳动生产的商品。
中国政府已经禁绝了在新疆进行独立的劳工条件调查，并大力打压了尽职调查公司，这使得公司难以证明其产品生产情况。努尔·图尔克律师和Uyghur人权项目前主席指出，强迫劳动与侵犯人权现象不仅在新疆存在，在中国内地也持续发生。
中国已停止发布被送往再教育营的人数。据他描述，这些人并非释放而是转移到监狱、农田或工厂中工作。他认为美国应当与更多国家联合禁止新疆货物进口，并对违反禁令的公司实施更严厉处罚。
商务部对此未作回应；白宫没有回应对于该调查的询问。
俄勒冈州民主党参议员、参议院财政委员会主席Ron Wyden指责中国政府“企图骚扰和恐吓”遵守美国法律的美国企业：“美国必须阻止这次不实指控妨碍我们国家对中国持续侵犯人权行为的打击行动。”
中国政府否认存在人权问题，并称其在新疆实施的计划旨在脱贫，而非强迫劳动。前香港高级警官、现为该地区一家企业安全咨询公司负责人Steve Vickers表示，跨国公司在当前混乱的局面中面临着前所未有的挑战与选择。
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.”
