Arcteyrx and Guns, by Trevor Zantos

In a day where seemingly every company feels compelled to offer their thoughts on a wide variety of issues, an Arc’teryx(outdoor/military equipment company) employee decided to offend a large section of its customers and then the company quickly tried to do damage control.  For those that missed the flurry, an email from an Arc’teryx employee was posted online that then “went viral”.  There was then the inevitable PR maneuvering, along with a statement posted by Soldier Systems, a gun industry blog, which is detailed below.  While the employee’s email is certainly noteworthy and the ensuing comments an interesting topic for discussion they are rather trivial. The reality is, it doesn’t matter whether Arc’teryx is “pro gun” or “anti-gun” because they are pro-communist.  In 2018 the parent company of Arc’teryx, Amer Sports, was sold to a Chinese consortium led by Anta sports but also includes other notable investors like the Chinese Technology giant, Tencent.  This means when ATF uses tax payer money and purchases $250,000 in Arc’teryx LEAF gear,  or SOCOM buys Salomon boots, or when the lowly consumer buys an Arc’teryx LEAF bag all those profits, in US Dollars (hard currency), is flowing to China and by extension, the Chinese Communist party since there is no separation under the CCP.

https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_15A00021FAQ000133_1560_15A00021DAQA00127_1560

In case one missed the happenings, I will try to summarize.  This is the initial email that was posted:

There were a lot of reactions from big influencers/industry people, a fairly common reactio.

 Soldier Systems posted an article that included the following statement from Arc’teyrx:

“The email screenshot expressing a restrictive policy on corporate sales to tactical industry business was sent out in error. It does not reflect our current policy. The customer has been notified, apologized to, and been put in touch with a representative from the Arc’teryx LEAF business unit”.

Full Article:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210626211002/https://soldiersystems.net/2021/06/19/arcteryx-is-not-anti-gun/

There were numerous follow up posts and opinions, but it is inconsequential and the truth reveals itself in this little quote from the beginning of the Soldier Systems article, “Truth be told, Arc’teryx doesn’t have a corporate policy on guns. Why would they? They are a Canadian clothing company”. The problem is that its not a Canadian company, its a Chinese Company.  In 2018 Arc’teryx’s parent company, Amer Sports (a Finish Company), who also owned Salomon, Suunto, Precor, Wilson, Mavic, Louisville Slugger, Peak performance, Atomic, Armada Ski’s, Enve Composites, Demarni, and Sports tracker, was sold to a Chinese dominated consortium.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210626223147/https://www.amersports.com/2018/12/mascot-bidco-oy-announces-a-voluntary-recommended-public-cash-tender-offer-for-all-the-shares-in-amer-sports-corporation/

There are some big names in here, and a lot of legalese, but the long and short of it is the following companies all combined to form an investor consortium called Mascot Bidco oy to acquire more than 90% of shares/voting rights of Amer Sports.  These companies include

Anta Sports:

1. Largest Chinese sportswear company market cap aprox 63 Billion USD https://web.archive.org/web/20210627173849/https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ANPDY/key-statistics/
2. Continues to use cotton from Xianjang which according to the UN/US is produced using slave/forced labor. https://web.archive.org/web/20210627172139/https://www.axios.com/olympic-uniform-supplier-anta-xinjiang-cotton-438a046b-ac3e-4a85-8379-2954ddfbe2d2.html

Tencent:

1. One of the largest Chinese tech firms with a valuation of aprox 847 Billion USD https://web.archive.org/web/20210627180431/https://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/TCEHY/Current-Valuation
2. Owns Wechat largest standalone mobile app in the world https://web.archive.org/web/20210627175530/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat
3. Owns outright or has stakes in some of the US and the world’s most popular games world wide including Epic games, Riot Games, etc

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627174827/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent*

4. One of the largest games has had questions regarding data harvesting of its users and tacitly admitted it was doing it. https://web.archive.org/web/20210627174221/https://www.thegamer.com/epic-game-store-spyware-accusation-china-tim-sweeney-fix-it/

FountainVest Partners:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627161249/http://www.fountainvest.com/leadership/

1. “FountainVest together with ANTA Sports and Tencent, completes the acquisition of the global outdoor sports leader Amer Sports, the largest global M&A project in the global sports industry.”
2. Their leadership has an interesting pedigree (2) ex-Goldman Sachs employees, (1) Bain & Company, (1) Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group, (1) Credit Suisse and Bear Stearns,

Anamered Investments:

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627171645/https://www.holditall.com/portfolio

1. Anamered Investments is owned by the Wilson Family, pioneers in vertical retailing and technical apparel
2. Wilson family started and then sold a large majority of lululemon in 2007 and remain a large share holder today (23% of production is made in China).

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627171235/https://bevoir.com/where-is-lululemon-made/

3. RBC Capital Markets and Fort Capital provided advice to the Wilson Family on its role with the Investor Consortium, with Bennett Jones and Choate Hall & Stewart acting as legal counsel to Anamered. The Investor Consortium and Amer Sports were represented by Citibank and Goldman Sachs, respectively(remember the Ex-Goldman Sachs employees)

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181800/https://www.fortcapital.ca/fort-capital-assists-hold-it-all-inc-in-the-acquisition-of-an-interest-in-amer-sports

It’s hard for citizens in the western world and specifically USA to understand the fact that there is no such thing as a “private” company and a “state” company in communist China.  This has been demonstrated over and over again, “billionaires” suddenly disappear or their companies and/or assets get seized if they say something the regime doesn’t like (Jack Ma, Ant). It is unconscionable to the western mind that a government would have this type of power over billionaires.  Another point to consider, is Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law, 2017, it states: “Any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work in accordance with the law, and keep its secrets known to the public. The State protects individuals and organizations that support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work”

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627183857/https://www.indiatoday.in/news-analysis/story/china-national-intelligence-law-2017-authorise-companies-espionage-india-1705033-2020-07-27

To further prove the point, in a recent report by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence “Chinese entities are required to follow the government’s directives, including the CCP’s Five- Year Plans. Robert Wan—son of a prominent and influential CCP Member and business executive—disclosed that “[d]espite its public listing in Hong Kong, [his firm] answers to the Chinese government—going beyond regulatory compliance. It receives directives from Beijing, and it follows them. . . The Chinese government acts like a de facto board of directors for the country’s domestic industries—even for publicly traded companies.”

https://web.archive.org/save/https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2021-06/China_investigation_three_pager.pdf

Therefore, when the consortium bought Amer Sports, in reality the Chinese Communist Party bought Amer because on demand the consortium must hand over any and all IP, production capability etc.  Also, any of their Chinese national employees must spy for the state on command no matter where they are or what they are doing.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627184410/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/25/tiktok-insiders-say-chinese-parent-bytedance-in-control.html

The other key part that comes from buying goods that are made in china or from Chinese owned companies is that it supports their rise as a military and economic power because the profits come to China in the form of US Dollars, hard currency.  https://web.archive.org/web/20210627190124/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hardcurrency.asp

This is very helpful with the CCP’s current “Made in China 2025 plan”

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627191240/https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/innovation/made-china-2025-explained

that they initiated in 2015 that identifies key industries to invest in which will allow China to be completely self sufficient in manufacturing and technology, similar to what the US was in the 1950s-60s.  In order to accomplish this, the CCP has to buy western machines and technology, that has to be done in US Dollars because most western countries will not accept Chinese currency for payments.  By these large concerns owning western companies and getting paid in US dollars it then gives the CCP the hard currency it needs for strategic imports.

At this time, US tax payers are buying Arcteyrx LEAF, Salomon, and Suunto brands which result in the net profits eventually going back to China.

https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_15A00021FAQ000133_1560_15A00021DAQA00127_1560

https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_15DDAT21P00000002_1524_-NONE-_-NONE-

https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_W912HV20M0002_9700_GS21F0083Y_4732

Contrary to popular opinion, while federal government contracts are nice, generally there is more money to be made in the civilian, state and local markets.  Buyers, be they government or civilian, are unfortunately supporting a communist regime that, as noted earlier, runs concentration camps for political/ethnic/religious persecution, breaks international treaties by restricting freedom in Hong Kong, and most recently engaged in some very dubious behavior and contributed to the spread of SARS-COVID-2 through out the world in addition to a still undetermined more significant role within the SARS-COVID-2.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210628000004/https://www.westernjournal.com/navarro-china-cut-off-domestic-travel-wuhan-allowed-intl-travel-continue-spreading-covid/

Suffice to say, they aren’t acting like a friend. According to their own doctrine (“Unrestricted Warfare”), we are the enemy and they have been formally working at taking us down through Economic and Information warfare and currently rapidly preparing to be able to take us down via Kinetic warfare

https://web.archive.org/web/20210627200550/https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/chinese-navy-launches-three-warships-in-one-day-in-muscular-propaganda-display/

There is a famous poem that I think nicely illustrates the US’s current predicament.

“So the eagle, pierced by the bow-sped shaft, looked

At the feathered device and said, “Thus, not by others,

But by means of our own plumage are we slain”

https://web.archive.org/save/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_Wounded_by_an_Arrow

I’m certainly not burning my LEAF gear or Salomon boots but I certainly will not be buying any more of their products.  In the weeks going forward, I will be presenting alternatives for your consideration if you so choose, as well as discussing the origins and ownership of some other industry goods.  As we have seen, in the modern world tracking ownership, place of manufacturer and where the raw goods come from is not a simple thing.  As I said in the beginning, it is inconsequential if Arc’teryx is pro-gun or anti-gun because they are pro-communist.