Culture Minister Lee Yung-te and Premier Su Tseng-chang have both criticized Taiwanese celebrities based in China who have publically endorsed buying cotton from Xinjiang.
A number of international brands, notably H&M and Nike, have pledged to stop buying cotton from the region amid reports that it is being grown with the forced labor of local ethnic Uyghurs. Xinjiang accounts for the majority of China’s cotton production, and China has reacted angrily at foreign brands’ refusal to buy the region’s cotton any longer.
Several Taiwanese celebrities have sided with China over the issue, citing patriotism, and going so far as to cancel contracts with the brands that have stopped buying Xinjiang cotton.
In response, Culture Minister Lee Yung-te said Friday that these Taiwanese people should stand with the universal value of human rights and not do as the violators of human rights say for mere personal gain.
Premier Su Tseng-chang, meanwhile, says that Taiwan will join in condemning any violation of human rights. He criticized those he said do not understand what is truly important, and fail to appreciate how valuable human rights are.