Huawei stands accused of being “part of Beijing’s levers of power” after removing apps by Nike and Adidas from its store amid a growing backlash in China over allegations of forced labour.
The Chinese tech giant, which was banned from contributing to Britain’s 5G network last year, said that following a “significant number of complaints from users” it had halted downloads of the apps on Monday “in accordance with our risk handling procedure”.
Western brands are facing growing hostility from Chinese consumers amid a row over cotton sourced from Xinjiang province, where China has been accused of suppressing Uighur Muslims and forcing them to pick the crop. Beijing denies this.
Nike and brands such as H&M expressed “concern” last year about reports of forced labour
