China has responded to criticism from a US lawmaker over Starbucks’s decision to open its first cafes in Xinjiang province.
John Moolenaar, chairman of the US House Select Committee on China, urged the American coffee chain to close the two cafes it opened recently in Urumqi, the regional capital.
Mr Moolenaar described the Starbucks’s decision to open the cafes as “morally bankrupt” and said their presence “ties an iconic American brand to the CCP’s brutal campaign against the Uyghurs”, referring to the ruling Communist Party of China .
“This is a shocking and morally bankrupt decision by a company that prides itself on social responsibility,” he said.
“There’s no justifiable reason for an American company to do business in a region where the CCP has detained more than a million Uyghurs and is stripping them of their faith, language, and culture.”
In response, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun accused Mr Moolenaar’s Congressional panel of “habitually fabricating claims out of thin air for political purposes to attack and smear” Beijing. “The so-called ‘genocide’ in Xinjiang is a blatant lie,” he added.
Several foreign governments and rights groups have accused Chinese authorities of committing abuses against more than 11 million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including forced labour, religious restrictions, mass detention, family separations, and forced sterilisations.
The advocacy group World Uyghur Congress called on Starbucks to “stand on the right side of history”.
Maya Wang, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the presence of Starbucks in Xinjiang “fits in the party state’s narrative that there’s nothing wrong about the region”.
Starbucks finalised a joint venture in China with Boyu Capital in April. “By combining Starbucks trusted global brand with Boyu’s deep local expertise, we are positioning the business to serve more customers, enter more cities and strengthen our leadership in a dynamic and evolving market,” the company’s CEO, Brian Niccol, said at the time.
The Chinese foreign ministry denounced allegations of repression in Xinjiang as “naked lies”, according to Reuters, and maintained the western region enjoyed a “stable society, economic growth, racial unity and religious harmony”.
The Independent has reached out to Starbucks for comment.
Starbucks isn’t the only Western company to face criticism for operating in Xinjiang. Hotel chains such as Hilton, IHG, Marriott and Wyndham are similarly accused of “legitimising” the alleged abuses in the region.
“It is unconscionable that these hotel chains continue to operate and expand in the Uyghur region at a time when the Chinese government is carrying out systematic atrocities,” Peter Irwin from the Uyghur Human Rights Project, an advocacy group, said last year.
“There’s absolutely no way that these multibillion-dollar corporations can operate responsibly in this environment. Their presence alone normalises and legitimises these abuses.
Advocacy groups also argue that the region’s growing commercialisation risks turning its culture and heritage into a tourist commodity.
In a report released in February, Uyghur Human Rights Project said: “Many brands publicly emphasise human rights and ethical business practices, yet few demonstrate meaningful scrutiny or mitigation of operational risks in the Uyghur region, revealing a persistent disconnect between corporate values and commercial actions.”
The US previously described China’s actions in the region as “genocide” while the UN said in 2022 that the abuses could constitute crimes against humanity.
Beijing denies the allegations and rejects the accusation of genocide.
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