China issued a stern warning to Walmart Inc. following allegations that the company’s warehouse stores in the country stopped selling items from Xinjiang, ramping up pressure on the retail giant amid rising tensions with the U.S. over the western province.The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog, rejected suggestions that inventory management was behind the shift at Sam’s Club, Walmart’s members-only chain. Consumers will respond with “practical actions” if the company doesn’t “respect the feelings of the Chinese people,” the commission said Friday.The warning underscores how Walmart and U.S. businesses are becoming ensnared in geopolitical tensions over Xinjiang, where the U.S. and United Nations have accused China of suppressing the predominantly Muslim Uyghur population. U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill on Dec. 23 banning companies from selling goods in the U.S. that were made with components from the province — unless they can prove forced labor wasn’t involved.
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