Nike faces social media storm in China over Xinjiang statement

People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus look at the Nike brand shoes for sale at the capital city's popular shopping mall in Beijing on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. - AP

BEIJING, March 25 (Reuters): Anger with Nike Inc erupted on Chinese social media late on Wednesday after China's netizens spotted a statement from the sporting goods giant saying it was "concerned" about reports of forced labour in Xinjiang and that it does not use cotton from the region.

Topics around the Nike statement were among the highest trending on China's Twitter-like social media Weibo on Thursday, and the social media backlash had a wider fallout.