Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Fast Retailing, which operates UNIQLO, said at a press conference today that companies are profiting from the forced labor of Uighur ethnic minorities in China. When asked if he was using cotton procured from, he said, "No comment."
After that, he said, "If there is a problem such as forced labor at the factory of the business partner, we will immediately stop the transaction" and expressed the idea that there is no problem with the company of the business partner.
In a report released last March by an Australian research institute on human rights issues in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, at least 82 of the world's largest companies benefit directly or indirectly from forced labor by Uighurs. He pointed out that he was getting the name of UNIQLO.
In this regard, FAST RETAILING released a comment last August saying that it confirmed that there were no transactions as pointed out in the report.
At the press conference on the 8th, Chairman and President Yanai was asked whether he was using cotton procured from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. No comment. "
On top of that, Chairman and President Yanai said, "If there is a problem such as forced labor at the factory of the business partner, we immediately stop the transaction. Human rights are very important and we are doing everything we should do." He expressed his belief that there was no problem with the company.