Mizuno Corp. has joined several Western sports brands in the boycott of cotton sourced in the Xinjjiang region of China. The company refrained from an official disclosure of the reasons for the move, which is probably linked to allegations of human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in the area. It simply said it would discontinue the production of items containing Xinjiang cotton. Another big Japanese company, Fast Retailing, said last month that it would immediately stop doing business with suppliers that were found to be using materials made with forced labor. In January, U.S. customs authorities had blocked the importation of men’s shirts for Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo stores because they were suspected to be violating a governmental ban on items made with Xinxiang cotton.

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