Corporate Sponsorship of the 2022 Beijing Olympics
The XXIV Winter Olympic Games are scheduled to begin in Beijing, China, in February 2022. Unless the Chinese government dramatically changes its behavior, these Olympic Games will be conducted in a country where crimes against humanity and genocide, according to the State Department, are being conducted against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. In addition, since Beijing was awarded the Winter Olympic Games by the International Olympics Committee (IOC), the Chinese government has acted to crush Hong Kong’s autonomy and increased repression against Tibetans, human rights defenders, and advocates for independent civil society, religious practice, and labor unions.
On May 18, the Commission held a joint hearing with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission entitled “China, Genocide and the Olympics,” at which witnesses made recommendations for how the IOC, Olympic sponsors and broadcasters, and governments can use the Olympic Games to seek improvements in human rights in China.
To this end, the Commission has invited the U.S.-based companies who sponsor the Olympics through The Olympic Partner (TOP ) Programme of the IOC to this hearing to address how they can leverage their influence to insist on concrete human rights improvements in the People’s Republic of China and how they will manage the material and reputational risks of being associated with an Olympic Games held in the midst of a genocide.
The archived hearing video can be viewed on the CECC’s YouTube Channel.