Did the midnight blue parka displayed by Xi Jinping on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics have a language?
Was it brought out of simple practical concern – like to fight the dry and freezing cold of that evening – or was it also to be seen as support for
Made in China
laced with diplomatic sarcasm?
In a barely subtle nationalist reasoning, we can obviously think that Xi Jinping was inviting local purchases with this very warm coat from the Canadian brand Arc'teryx, which came under Chinese control in 2019 since its takeover by the equipment manufacturer Anta Sports. Because it didn't fail. In the wake of this high-profile appearance in the national stadium in Beijing, the model that the Chinese president was wearing, the price of which was around 1,250 euros, seemed to be quickly out of stock on the brand's website, according to the many screenshots of chats posted on the Chinese social network Weibo. A rush already observed a year earlier when the Chinese president appeared with a similar parka, already from the Arc'teryx brand, during his review of the site of the Olympic Games in Zhangjiakou.This support for Anta Sports, official equipment supplier of the International Olympic Committee, which also dresses athletes like Eileen Gu, the freestyle skier prodigy who became the face of the Chinese team in 2019, does not seem to be the only objective... It intervenes in an icy diplomatic climate.
Diplomatic boycott
Recall that the 2022 Olympic Games officially opened on Friday with the absence of many heads of state or Western governments in the stands.
Some invoking the pandemic, others the diplomatic boycott, like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, precisely, who declared himself last December “deeply disturbed by the human rights violations of the Chinese government”.
It has been two years since the fate of the Uighur minority, described as "genocide" by Canadian MPs, led to a breakdown in dialogue between the Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Canadian Prime Minister.
At the end of December, US President Joe Biden also signed a law prohibiting the import of products from the forced labor of Uyghurs in China.
Indeed, several reports, including that of the American foundation
Victims of Communism
, show that at least half a million Uighurs are victims of forced labor in the cotton fields in Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China.
Allegations that have prompted several brands including Nike, Adidas and H&M to announce a boycott of cotton from the Xinjiang region.
What the sportswear heavyweight Anta Sports obviously did not do.
The Chinese equipment manufacturer has taken the opposite view, claiming on the contrary loud and clear the use of this cotton.
At the same time, he left the
Better Cotton Initiative
, the NGO that promotes better standards in cotton farming - and which suspended its license in Xinjiang.
Thus, by appearing in the stands with this Canadian midnight blue parka, Xi Jinping kills three birds with one stone: showering Justin Trudeau, promoting a Chinese giant, and - more unexpectedly?
- become a fashion prescriber in his country.
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