Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola has remained silent on the topic of human rights abuses by the Chinese government even as it boosts left-wing political causes in the United States while pursuing business in China.
Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta and a member of the Olympic Partner program, has refused to specifically condemn the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority group and others, but it has supported the Black Lives Matter movement while attacking Republican-led Georgia’s election laws and anti-abortion proposals. The company has teamed up with the International Olympic Committee and a massive Chinese company to promote the Beijing Winter Games.
The 2022 Games have been dubbed the “Genocide Olympics” by critics who believe the competition should not be held in a country responsible for a host of human rights abuses. IOC President Thomas Bach vowed to stay “politically neutral” on China’s alleged human rights abuses.
Coca-Cola ignored the Washington Examiner’s questions about its sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics, its views on Chinese human rights abuses, and why it won’t speak up.
Paul Lalli, Coca-Cola’s global vice president for human rights, appeared before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in July last year, where he dodged many questions on the topic, drawing frustration from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Lalli said the company’s “commitment to human rights is sincere and embedded in our culture and strategy” and quoted Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey, who said, “Respect for human rights is at the foundation of our business.” Lalli argued that the company’s “commitment to human rights extends to our sponsorship of global sporting events” but claimed that “as a sponsor of global sporting events, our influence is limited.”
The Coke executive was asked if the company would call upon the IOC to relocate the Olympics, and he repeatedly said, “We do not have a say on the host city selection or on whether the Games are relocated or delayed.”
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Coca-Cola announced in June 2019 that it would be extending its partnership for another 12 years. China was selected by the IOC to host the Winter Games in 2015.
Lalli was also asked if Coke would use its platform to speak out against China’s human rights abuses, and he refused to be specific about China. “We speak out very loudly on respect for human rights,” he said broadly.
When asked if he agreed with the U.S. that the CCP is committing genocide against the Uyghurs, Lalli said, “We are aware of the reports of the State Department on this issue, as well as other departments of the U.S. government. We respect those reports. They continue to inform our program.”
And when asked why Coke would weigh in on Georgia’s laws but not speak up for the Uyghurs, he said, “Georgia is our home. … And we are most engaged on public policy issues here in the U.S.”
“I think the answer is you’re afraid of the Chinese Communist Party,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said. “You’re afraid of what they will do to your company if you say a single word.”
The U.S. believes the CCP is conducting a genocide against Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang in western China. The Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott in December, which was copied by several other countries. China has denied the allegations of human rights abuses, calling them the “lie of the century.”
During questioning, Lalli argued that Coca-Cola had not lobbied against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which has since passed and been signed into law.
Lalli also admitted that one of Coke’s bottling partners in China “has a bottling operation in Xinjiang” but argued that “no forced labor exists” there.
Coke signed a letter along with dozens of other businesses in March 2019 to oppose Georgia’s proposed law that would’ve banned abortions when a fetal heartbeat could be detected. Coke’s CEO said in April 2021, opposing Georgia’s election law, that “we are disappointed in the outcome of the Georgia voting legislation.”
Coke tweeted in June 2020 that it was donating the 100 Black Men of America advocacy group “as a part of the effort to end systemic racism and bring true equality to all” and included the hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter.”
Quincey spoke at a company town hall that month where he talked about the police killing of George Floyd, saying, “Companies like ours must speak up as allies to the Black Lives Matter movement.” He also announced $2.5 million in grants, including to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in support of its Policing Reform Campaign.
The company announced in December 2020 that it was partnering with Global Citizen last year to “defeat poverty, defend the planet, and demand equity.” Coke stressed last year that it “specifically” condemns “any acts of bias, hate, and violence targeting the Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders community.”
Coke is described as proud that it has been a “longstanding partner of the Olympic Games” since 1928. The company announced its “joint sponsorship” of the Olympics with China’s Mengniu, whose largest shareholder is Cofco, a Chinese state-owned company. The deal was reportedly valued at $3 billion.
“With a fresh approach to our business and to our sponsorship, we are proud to join with Mengniu to promote and celebrate future Olympic Games,” Quincey said during the signing ceremony.
Cofco Coca-Cola is one of Coke’s bottlers in China, and Cofco Tunhe Sugar is based in Xinjiang. The CECC determined that Cofco has “close ties” with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a “paramilitary” group sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 for Uyghur repression. The Cofco facility in Xinjiang reportedly supplies sugar to a bottling facility said to be tied to forced labor. The CECC also determined in 2020 that Coke and Cofco were “suspected of directly employing forced labor or sourcing from suppliers that are suspected of using forced labor.”
Coke denies this, saying its regular audits, including of its Chinese operations, show no forced labor.
Coke brags that “since our return to the Chinese mainland in 1979, the Coca-Cola system has invested $13 billion and established a total of 45 production facilities in China.” The company says China is its third-largest market. Coke said in October that China was a “key market.”
Coca-Cola said this year that it wouldn’t be running a global ad campaign about the Olympics but would instead “activate the Games through our local, on-the-ground team in China.”
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Coca-Cola’s Chinese-language Weibo accounts show the company touting its involvement in the Olympics and running ad campaigns and online contests while selling products commemorating the Games. Coke also shared its local media coverage from Beijing Satellite TV.
Coca-Cola’s main Weibo page celebrated when the “Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics officially opened today!!!” The company congratulated China’s team for winning a gold and silver this week, saying the country was “continuing to write the legend of ice and snow at home” and that Coke “invites you to cheer for China and crown it with glory!”
The company said in January that it was providing drinks to athletes, uniforms to cleanup crews, and setting up “Coca-Cola Leisure Centers in the three Winter Olympic Villages.”
