Overview
- This week Starbucks opened two cafés in Ürümqi, one at the Grand Bazaar and one at the city’s international airport.
- John Moolenaar, chair of the U.S. House China special committee, called the openings "shocking" and urged Starbucks to close the stores in a public statement.
- Chinese state media and social posts celebrated the launches, noting Uighur-style decor and local foods such as lamb pastries, baklava and milk tea and reporting long opening lines.
- Commercial responsibility is complicated because Boyu Capital owns 60 percent of the joint venture that runs about 8,300 Starbucks locations in China while Starbucks retains the brand and the remaining stake.
- Human-rights groups warned the cafés risk propping up an economy where forced labor and mass repression of Uighurs have been alleged, a backdrop that has already prompted sanctions and corporate pullbacks and could raise fresh political and reputational consequences for the company.