Fast fashion giant Shein came under fire during a U.K. parliamentary hearing for failing to confirm whether its products contain cotton linked to forced labor in the Uyghur Region of China. In fact, the company could not even admit to sourcing cotton in China at all. The company’s general counsel for Europe, Yinan Zhu, faced accusations of “wilful ignorance” after dodging key questions about the company’s supply chain practices.

Unanswered questions on forced labor

During the Business and Trade Committee hearing, direct yes or no questions were rebuffed by Zhu to the increasing frustration of the policymakers. She could not even confirm that Shein sources any cotton from China or that Shein is trying to get listed on the London Stock Exchange—despite the hearing being part of the hold up of said listing.

The Guardian reports,

Zhu could not answer questions about whether Shein’s manufacturers – none of which the company owns directly – used the controversial yarn or whether any of them were based in the Xinjiang region. She said the company may be able to provide a written answer in future.

Zhu was sent a dossier outlining links between cotton production in the region and forced labour of the Muslim minority Uyghur people. However, she said the material, put together by the campaign group Stop Uyghur Genocide, was ‘not specifically relating to Shein,’ which is headquartered in Singapore but founded in China where most of its products are made.”

The testimony left MPs unconvinced. Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee, criticized Shein for its lack of transparency, stating, “For a company seeking to float on the London Stock Exchange, the committee has been pretty horrified by the lack of evidence.”

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