What happened Shares of sportswear giant Nike (NYSE: NKE) took a hit in Thursday morning trading, falling 4.7% through 11:30 a.m. EDT, after Chinese state media seemed to encourage consumers to boycott foreign brands that have, in the past, criticized its use of forced labor by Muslim Uyghurs in the country's Xinjiang region. So what Online, this sparked a series of criticism of companies ranging from Hennes & Mauritz to adidas to Nike, all of which have at one time or another stated that they do not source their products or raw materials from Xinjiang. All three companies are part of the "Better Cotton Initiative" trade group, which Reuters describes as promoting "sustainable cotton production" and says has avoided buying cotton from Xinjiang, "citing human rights concerns." Chinese consumers have posted online comments such as, "if you boycott Xinjiang cotton, we'll boycott you." The Communist Youth League accused Nike and its peers of wanting "to make money in China while spreading false rumors and boycotting Xinjiang cotton." The People's Liberation Army called the companies "ignorant and arrogant," and China's Foreign Ministry accused the companies of spreading "malicious lies." Image source: Getty Images. Now what Clearly, the rhetoric is getting heated, and that makes investors understandably nervous -- perhaps for good reason. Beyond mere words on the internet, China's government-sanctioned attack has apparently convinced Alibaba to remove H&M products, for example, from its Tmall shopping platform. The risk that Nike will be next cannot be ignored. And when you consider that Nike depends on China for 18% of its annual sales currently (according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence), this is a situation that could get even worse before it gets better. 10 stocks we like better than NikeWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Nike wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source