WOKE CAPITALISM COMES TO GEORGIA…BUT NOT CHINA:
In March 2020, a Congressional Executive Commission on human-rights abuses in Xinjiang listed Coca-Cola as a major American company with ties to forced labor camps in the Chinese province. Other companies on the list included Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Campbell’s Soup Company, CostCo, H&M (who has since distanced themselves from China and paid a price for it), Patagonia and Tommy Hilfiger. The report went on to specifically name Coca-Cola’s COFO Tunhe sugar facility in Xinjiang as having direct ties to forced labor. It was reported in the New York Times in November of last year that Coca-Cola was one of the primary companies lobbying against congressional legislation targeting companies who engaged with China’s forced labor policies. The New York Times piece said ‘Lobbyists have fought to water down some of its provisions, arguing that while they strongly condemn forced labor and current atrocities in Xinjiang, the act’s ambitious requirements could wreak havoc on supply chains that are deeply embedded in China.’
Quincey will likely not have to answer for these corporate hypocrisies while appearing on friendly media outlets who also do not want to see Chinese threats to their valuable media markets.
Delta Airlines was another high profile company to wade into the debate around SB-202. CEO Ed Bastian, in a company-wide statement declared ‘I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values… The entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie: that there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 elections. This is simply not true. Unfortunately, that excuse is being used in states across the nation that are attempting to pass similar legislation to restrict voting rights.’ The bill however was signed into law by Brian Kemp, who faced heavy pressure from former president Donald Trump and his acolytes to decertify the 2020 election results from Georgia.
Guess what? Delta Airlines, in a partnership with China, agreed last August to add additional flights to China. This occurred while the United States and countries around the world were still in the grips of a global pandemic, which originated in and was initially covered up by China. And Major League Baseball has just caved under pressure to relocate the annual All-Star game from Atlanta, an idea bravely endorsed by President Biden in an ESPN interview Wednesday night. The MLB, much like the NBA, has been eager to expand its market into China in recent years. In 2017, Major League Baseball struck a deal to construct 20 new baseball centers in China for developing talent. In 2018, the MLB cut a deal with Tencent Technologies to stream MLB games in Chinese markets.
As Jim Geraghty wrote in October of 2019, when the CCP-NBA connection was exposed for millions of Americans to see, in a sort of prelude to what was to come the following year: We’re Not Exporting Our Values to China — We’re Importing Theirs.