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The
hashtag "Amazon T-Shirts" became the fourth-top trending topic
on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday in the latest
backlash for an overseas company that broached matters regarding
Hong Kong's territorial status.
The widely-read Global Times tabloid, published by China's
state-owned People's Daily, said many Chinese internet users
found the T-shirts for sale carrying slogans such as "Free Hong
Kong Democracy Now" and "Hong Kong is Not China", among others.
Legions of internet users accused the site of being insensitive
toward the Chinese people, with one Weibo commenter writing,
"Amazon has already left China, right? We need to teach this
company a lesson."
The e-commerce giant shut its domestic shopping service in July,
but continues to ship overseas goods to the country.
A representative for Amazon did not respond to Reuters' emailed
request for comment.
Protests in Hong Kong are attracting media attention across the
region, as activists have occupied public spaces across the
global financial hub for more than 10 weeks, to draw attention
to a perceived erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong.
At the start of the protests, domestic media from mainland China
gave them only limited coverage but they now dominate headlines
in both state-owned newspapers and online publications.
Several celebrities from mainland China severed ties with a
number of fashion labels this week, after online users pointed
out they had released apparel that referred to Hong Kong and
Taiwan as separate from the People's Republic of China.
Versace, Calvin Klein, and other brands each issued public
apologies online, either on Chinese social media accounts or
overseas ones.
Coach, which drew fire for a T-shirt that implied Taiwan was a
distinct entity from China, said that in May 2018 it discovered
a "serious inaccuracy" in one of its clothing items and pulled
it from store shelves.
(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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