U.S.-based corporation and big-money sponsor of the 2022 Beijing Olympics Coca-Cola refused to condemn the Chinese Communist Party for severe human rights violations. Under questioning from a bipartisan congressional panel on Tuesday, the company was accused of prioritizing profit over human rights violations.
In January, the State Department classified China’s actions in Xinjiang genocide against Uyghur Muslims. Reports from inside the area have confirmed mass sterilization, daily gang rape, sexual torture, human trafficking, mandatory birth control, and the separation of children from families. Many Uyghur Muslims are calling for a boycott of the 2022 Olympics.
related: ‘Woka-Cola’: Ad Trolls Coke for Defending China, Giving Americans Diabetes“We should not empower China by allowing it to host the Winter Olympics while it is engaged in genocide and other crimes against humanity,” said Salih Hudayar, founder of the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement.
When asked if the games should be relocated or postponed due to concerns over the ongoing genocide, Coca-Cola, Visa Inc., and Airbnb denied responsibility.
“We do not make decisions on these host locations. We support and follow the athletes wherever they compete,” Coca-Cola’s global vice president for human rights Paul Lalli said.
In November, Coca-Cola lobbied to push back on a bill prohibiting product imports manufactured in China using forced labor. The bill, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, restricts imports from slave labor camps in Xinjiang, and passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support, despite the corporation’s attempts to...
