Nike chief executive John Donahoe has issued a stern warning against detractors who think the clothing giant should pull out of its business in China. During a call with Wall Street analysts about Nike's latest earnings report, Donahoe reaffirmed its loyalty to CCP and China.
"Nike is a brand that is of China and for China," Donahoe, who had served as Nike's president and CEO since January 2020, reiterated his commitment to uphold the brand's business in China despite backlash over statements about Xinjiang, where Uyghur Muslim minorities are subjected to forced labor as part of the region's cotton economy, BBC reported.
Nike revealed its fourth quarter earnings of $12.3 billion, which helped the brand achieve a $1.5 profit from a $790 million loss during the pandemic. The earnings report also showed that in China alone, revenues rose to over $1.9 billion, missing the Wall Street expectation of $2.2billion by a few million. Donahoe said he was confident that China would remain a fast-growing market for Nike due to its long history in the country.
"We've always taken a long term view. We've been in China for over 40 years," Donahoe said. He added that Phil Knight, the brand's co-founder and former chief executive, first saw potential growth in China and that he had "invested significant time and energy in China in the early days," causing Nike to be "the largest sport brand there" today.
According to The Blaze, Nike released a statement earlier this year saying that it was "concerned about reports of forced labor in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)" and reassured customers that the brand "does not source products from the XUAR and [has confirmed with] contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region."
Nike, as well as a slew of other international brands, were the subject of intense criticism following the news of Muslim Uyghur slave trade in Xinjiang, a region where up to one-fifth of the world's cotton is sourced. When Western brands began to boycott cotton from the region, the CCP took offense and accused them of hampering China's economy. China even launched an intimidation campaign against Western brands who spoke out on the human rights abuses of the Uyghur Muslims in the hands of the CCP.
Critics are now questioning Nike's loyalty to CCP despite their questionable ethics, especially with regards to the cotton trade. BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock argued, "Nike cannot serve America and China. It has chosen its master, and it is not us."
"China is a communist-run, authoritarian, racist country," Whitlock said. "America is (or has been) a democratic republic pursuing freedom and fairness. You can't be of China and for China and serve America."
Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas blasted the Nike CEO's most recent comments about China. In talking to Fox News. Sen Cotton said, "I guess Nike's attitude towards genocide in China is 'just do it.'"
The Arkansas senator went on to give a harsh criticism of Donahoe, saying, "These woke CEOs saddle their high horse and ride it hard in America. Talk about Nike with Colin Kaepernick, but when they get into China they kowtow before the powers that be."
"They never bring up anything like China's genocide against its own people or crushing Hong Kong's autonomy or unleashing this plague on the United States," Sen. Cotton argued. "All they care about in China is money."
