TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nike is the latest western company to face the wrath of Chinese netizens on social media over its stance on forced labor in Xinjiang amid tit-for-tat sanctions over China's human rights abuses in the region.

On Monday (March 22), the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and the EU announced sanctions against four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and organizations connected with human rights abuses in Xinjiang. In response, Beijing immediately imposed its own sanctions on 10 European individuals, including eight politicians, as well as four European entities.

The next day, the People’s Liberation Army and Communist Youth League reacted angrily on Weibo at a statement by Sweden's H&M Group issued in September last year stating that it is "deeply concerned" about reports of forced labor of "ethnoreligious minorities" in Xinjiang and claimed that it would cease purchasing cotton from the region. In response, four Chinese e-commerce platforms, Jingdong, Pinduoduo, Taobao, and Tmall, all yanked H&M products from their online stores.

On Wednesday (March 24), a similar statement issued by Nike in March of last year also surfaced on Weibo in which it said that it was "concerned about reports of forced labor" in Xinjiang and denied sourcing "textiles or spun yarn from the region." Chinese netizens on the heavily censored and carefully orchestrated platform soon started criticizing Nike for its stance on Xinjiang.

By that evening, the Chinese hashtag for Nike (耐克) became the top trending item on Weibo. Furious Chinese netizens threatened to boycott the American shoe brand in retaliation:

"A statement against Nike! This really is a waste of many years of passion and preference by many domestic consumers."

"Spreading rumor against Xinjiang cotton while wanting to make money in China? Dream on!"

"Nike has a discrimination problem. Support domestic products, national sovereignty cannot be violated, and insist on boycotting unruly enterprises!"

"The statement is shameless! Boycott Nike. Get out of China!"

Nike has a cotton procurement agreement through the international non-profit organization Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). The organization partners with over 200 brands, such as Capri Holdings (Versace, Michael Kors, and Jimmy Choo), Adidas, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo, GU), Inditex (Zara), Gap, Muji, and Ikea.