IOC major sponsors mostly muted in runup to Beijing Olympics

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Beijing Winter Olympics are fraught with potential hazards for major sponsors, who are trying to remain quiet about China s human rights record while protecting at least $1 billion they've collectively paid to the IOC That could reach $2 billion when new figures are expected this year. The Charter speaks of putting “sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” It further adds: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” The Associated Press contacted most of the major Olympic sponsors, but was met largely with silence about their plans, or told the focus was on the athletes. Fans were banned, officials shuttered an enclosure brimming with sponsor marquees, and Toyota, one of Japan's three major Olympic sponsors, pulled its ads off local TV to avoid being linked to the Olympics. Intel's Steven Rodgers, an executive vice president and general counsel, was the only one of five to say he believed the conclusions of the U.S. State Department that China was "committing genocide against the Uyghur people.” Olympic sponsors and NBCUniversal, the broadcast rights holder for the United States, were asked in a letter from Human Rights Watch to be aware of the rights climate in China, and to scrutinize supply chains.