"China: Olympics Sponsors in Spotlight as Games Loom", 12 November 2021

The International Olympic Committee’s major corporate sponsors should explain publicly how they are using their leverage to address human rights abuses in China ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, Human Rights Watch said today. Sponsors should also press the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to adopt a human rights policy to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for any adverse human rights impacts across all Olympic operations and events, including for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. [...]

Human Rights Watch wrote to the companies in May 2021, and Allianz in October 2021, asking them how they are managing the human rights risks of their involvement with the 2022 Beijing Olympics but only received a response from Allianz, which stated, “We stand behind the Olympic Movement and our longstanding support for its ideals will not waver.” [...]

In response to questions from Bloomberg about involvement in the 2022 Olympics, Omega said: “As a global brand, we are certainly aware of international tensions and monitor them carefully.… We sincerely believe that the Olympic Games is a perfect opportunity to meet on common ground in the spirit of unity.” Airbnb told Bloomberg that, “We believe China is an important part of our mission to connect people from around the world and from different backgrounds, now more than ever.” [...]