GOP Rep. Steel pressures Olympic corporate sponsors to shine light on CCP abuses
Steel calls out corporate sponsors for being silent in the face of genocide after being vocal during 'political and social protests'
Beijing Olympics loom amid reports of Chinese slave labor
Correspondent Hillary Vaughn has the details from Capitol Hill on 'Cavuto: Coast to Coast.'
FIRST ON FOX: Republican Rep. Michelle Steel of California is putting pressure on the 2022 Winter Olympic corporate sponsors to shine a light on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights abuses.
Steel sent a letter to 17 companies ahead of the China-hosted winter games, urging corporate sponsors of the Winter Olympics — from Coca-Cola to AirBnB — to use their advertising budgets and platforms to expose the CCP's actions.
"The list of human rights abuses by the CCP is as horrific as it is long. These corporate sponsors have an opportunity to use their multimillion-dollar advertising budgets to shine a light on these horrific practices," Steel told Fox Business. "I urge them to do the right thing."
SANTA ANA, CA - NOVEMBER 05: Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel participates in a press conference in Santa Ana, CA announcing the Stigma Free OC campaign to promote mental health and suicide prevention services on Thursday, November 5, 2020. St
In the letter, Steel urges the companies to use their "public platforms and multimillion-dollar advertising budget, with a combined reach of billions of people, to raise awareness on the atrocities being performed by the Chinese government to end its abuses and to pressure China to end its human rights violations."
Steel pointed to the "human rights abuses and atrocities" occurring right now under Chinese President Xi — such as forced sterilization, "labor camps and murder" of Uighur and other Muslim minority groups — and cited the Biden administration’s diplomatic boycott of the games.
The California Republican also took aim at the companies that "felt compelled to speak out over the last year in support of political and social protests" and their subsequent silence in the face of genocide.
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) walks through the U.S. Capitol Building on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"But where are your statements against the human rights abuses happening right now in China?" Steele wrote. "How can we support sending our athletes – the best of the best, who have worked so hard for these moments – to a country with a backdrop of abuse and violence?"
"I urge you to use your global platform to stand up to Communist China and support the values of human rights," the congresswoman said, concluding her letter. "I understand this is not easy, but you have a global platform to take a stand for the voiceless. We must all come together to hold the CCP accountable and protect the freedoms of religion and speech for all."
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Steel sent the letter to 17 companies: the Coca-Cola Company, AirBnB, Bridgestone, Intel, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble, Samsung, Visa, Comcast, Delta Air Lines, Salesforce, Deloitte, Nike, Jetset Sports, Oakley, Ralph Lauren, and Toyota.
None of the companies immediately responded to Fox Business' request for comment.