Ban Ki-moon and Airbnb, Reasons for Inclusion Among Human Rights Groups' Criticism Targets

Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the National Climate and Environment Council / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] A human rights organization representing ethnic minorities in China has added former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the accommodation sharing company Airbnb to its list of criticism targets.

On the 22nd, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that 180 organizations, including the World Uyghur Congress and the US Tibet Committee, have placed former Secretary-General Ban, who is the Chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ethics Commission, and Airbnb, an official sponsor of the Beijing Winter Olympics, on a name-and-shame list.

These organizations, which are conducting a boycott movement against the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, are protesting China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and other regions.

They argue that just as Hitler used the 1936 Berlin Olympics to divert attention from the Nazi atrocities, the Chinese government is attempting to shift focus away from the domestic genocide through the Beijing Winter Olympics.

With former Secretary-General Ban, elected as Chair of the IOC Ethics Commission in September 2017, being named on the list, the controversy surrounding China's ethnic minority human rights abuses appears to be spilling over into the IOC Ethics Commission as well.

Regarding this, IOC President Thomas Bach stated on the 12th, "We are not a super world government that can solve problems that the UN Security Council, the Group of Seven (G7), and the Group of Twenty (G20) have failed to resolve," adding, "The activities of these organizations fall within the realm of politics."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.