XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT! Marriott refused to host Uyghur conference, citing “political neutrality:”

The big picture: The World Uyghur Congress has repeatedly drawn the ire of Chinese authorities, who have declared it a terrorist group for allegedly fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, though the group does not promote violence and is on no international terrorist lists.

• Ahead of the conference, the Chinese embassy in Prague condemned the Congress and the politicians who participated.
• Prague mayor Zdeněk Hřib, who attended the conference, said in response: “I hear that China is unhappy about this conference being held here in Prague. Well, I am unhappy there’s a country in 2021 that has concentration camps.”

What they’re saying: The conference organizers found Marriott’s response “shocking,” Arkin says, adding that none of the other hotels they reached out to expressed any concerns.

• “We organize international events all the time and this is the first time we were given this excuse,” she says.

• “It is chilling because of the broader concept of how China is really disrupting Western democracies,” she adds.

As Jim Geraghty wrote in October of 2019, when the CCP-NBA connection exposed for millions of Americans to see: We’re Not Exporting Our Values to China — We’re Importing Theirs.