Starbucks: Leave Xinjiang, the Uyghurs Deserve Better
Brian Niccol is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks
Starbucks has opened its first cafés in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has carried out mass detention and repression of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. We call on Starbucks to close its Xinjiang locations and commit publicly to opening no more in the region.
People belonging to ethnic, cultural, and religious groups in northwestern China, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Hui, are currently the target of the largest organized detention of an ethno-religious minority the world has seen since World War II. Since 2017, over one million have been detained. Detainees are made to work under constant surveillance, with assigned minders and no freedom to leave. Their forced labor contributes to the production of goods for numerous multinationals.
There is no reason for Starbucks to open locations in Xinjiang, epecially when it is closing them across the U.S. and Canada. Let them know that you prefer your coffee free of genocide.
Sponsored by
To:
Brian Niccol is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks
From:
[Your Name]
This week, Starbucks opened its first two stores in Xinjiang, at the Ürümqi airport and the city's Grand Bazaar. Chinese state media promoted both with "locally inspired" menus and "Xinjiang elements" in the décor.
This is not an ordinary market expansion. In 2022, the UN human rights office found that large-scale arbitrary detention occurred in Xinjiang and that it may amount to crimes against humanity. The US government has determined that China is committing genocide against Uyghurs. Hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs remain imprisoned because of their ethnicity and religion.
Starbucks is giving the Chinese government exactly what it wants: a familiar, trusted global brand that makes the region look normal. Human Rights Watch has warned that corporate presence in Xinjiang feeds the government's narrative that nothing is wrong. Chinese state media is already using foreign investment that way, citing it as proof that international concern is "unfounded."
Starbucks says every store operates under the same brand standards and values, including responsible business practices. In Xinjiang, those standards cannot be met. Independent auditing is not possible, workers have no freedom to speak out, and the surrounding system rests on coercion and forced labor.
We urge you to:
* Close the Starbucks locations in Xinjiang.
* Commit publicly that Starbucks will not open or license any further stores in the region.
* Explain what human rights due diligence Starbucks conducted before this expansion, and who was consulted.
Your customers want to know that their coffee is not helping to whitewash genocide.