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Top Chinese pop singer Karry Wang breaks off relationship with Intel after US chip maker requests suppliers to boycott Xinjiang
- Karry Wang, one of China’s brightest stars, said ‘national interests’ come above all else
- Intel said it was trying to comply with US laws and ‘was not taking a stand’
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One of China’s most famous young pop singers announced on Wednesday he would terminate his brand ambassadorship with US chip maker Intel over the corporation’s boycott of products made in Xinjiang due to allegations of forced labour in the western autonomous region.
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Karry Wang Junkai’s production studio issued a statement that said Intel had refused to “discuss and clarify the issue”.
“Mr Wang and this company resolutely safeguard national interests. Therefore, from this day, we will terminate all partnerships with Intel,” it read.
Wang’s decision to end his relationship with Intel is the latest in a string of celebrities that have cancelled partnerships with western brands that said they would stop buying products from Xinjiang over allegations that Beijing is using mostly Uygurs in the region as forced labour.
In March, clothing giant H&M faced a mass boycott from dozens of Chinese celebrities after the brand said it would not buy cotton from Xinjiang.
Intel’s backlash came after it posted an open letter on its website this month that prohibited suppliers from using any labour or sourcing goods or services from Xinjiang as “multiple governments have imposed restrictions” on them. Over a quarter of Intel’s total revenue comes from China.
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On Thursday, the company said in a statement: “The paragraphs about Xinjiang in the letter were written out of the intention of complying with US laws. We did not mean anything else or to take a stand.”
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