US sportswear brand Nike has confirmed that it is withdrawing some products from sale in China, adding substance to reports that Chinese customers were angered by a social media post of a Japanese brand, which cooperates with Nike, about unrest in Hong Kong.
“Based on feedback from Chinese consumers, we have withdrawn from China a small number of products that were designed by a collaborator,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to CNBC.
While the spokesperson provided no further details, the statement followed a Wednesday report in The Financial Times which said that Nike had pulled a line of limited-edition sneakers made in partnership with Tokyo-based label Undercover, headed by Japanese fashion designer Jun Takahashi.
The move reportedly came after Undercover shared an Instagram post endorsing protesters opposed to the Hong Kong government’s controversial extradition bill. That post is said to have ignited backlash from Chinese social media users and was later deleted.
It also emerged that sportswear brand YYSports, one of Nike’s local retail partners in China, announced that it was cancelling the launch of a collaboration between Nike and Undercover a day before its 14 June release date.
Furthermore, Undercover products were temporarily withdrawn from Chinese online clothing retailer Yoho, according to Nikkei Asian Review.
Earlier this month, over a million Hong Kong residents took part in protests against a proposed extradition law which would allow them to hand over suspected criminals to countries which don’t have extradition agreements with Hong Kong.
Specifically, it would allow them to send those accused of criminal offences for trial in mainland China.
Many in Hong Kong voiced concerns that the bill, if adopted, would put at risk the island’s judicial autonomy, resting on the ‘One country, two systems’ principle.
After protests were marred by public unrest and clashes with police, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who earlier stood by the bill, saying it would help “uphold justice”, suspended it in a bid to restore order.
