Jane Lai

A RECENT call for a boycott of French retail chain Carrefour had become a “political issue,” and employees of the chain were not in the right position to comment on the matter, Li Jia, public relations manager for the southern region of Carrefour China, said yesterday.

Carrefour faces a widespread boycott after Internet and mobile phone users last week began mobilizing the public to stay away from the chain following reports that Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), one of Carrefour’s shareholders, had been supporting Tibetan separatists by donating money to the Dalai Lama.

Carrefour China had not officially commented on the issue by press time yesterday.

Bernard Arnault, chairman of the LVMH luxury goods group, together with Colony Capital, an American private equity firm, own Blue Capital, which became Carrefour’s largest single shareholder by increasing its stake from 9.1 percent to 10.7 percent Friday.

Besides donations to the Dalai Lama, the repeated disruptions to the Olympic torch relay in Paris by Tibetan separatists and their supporters April 8, along with the French media’s biased reports on this issue, have infuriated many in China.

Campaigners initially urged Chinese people not to purchase any goods from Carrefour outlets May 1. They are now urging people to stay away from it between May 8 and 24, as part of a blanket boycott of French commodities, including cosmetics.

In response, many Chinese are spreading the boycott call by forwarding e-mails and text messages.

“The French have a total disregard for the Olympic torch and the friendship between the two countries; it’s time to slam them back ... Carrefour’s shareholder, the LVMH, has donated funds a few times to the Dalai Lama and it is waiting for a historic opportunity to split China; we therefore should stop doing anything that benefits the French,” says a forwarded e-mail.

However, others consider a Carrefour boycott unreasonable. “Should we ride South China tigers, which are a Chinese ‘product,’ after we destroy cars manufactured in France, Germany and Britain?” commented an Internet user.

Shenzhen resident Lin Xiaodan said she and her friends had decided to stop shopping in Carrefour. “It is obvious that we should boycott the products of those hostile toward China,” Lin said.

An official with the retailer’s Shenzhen operations confirmed yesterday that sales at the city’s eight Carrefour outlets had not been affected by the boycott call.

The Carrefour boycott call has also not affected the operations of Louis Vuitton China. “Our 19 stores have not at all been affected and this boycott is to a great extent representing the behavior of only some Chinese,” said a public relations official surnamed Zhuang with Louis Vuitton China.