{"id":951,"date":"2021-11-19T17:58:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T14:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/?p=951"},"modified":"2021-11-19T17:58:12","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T14:58:12","slug":"exclusive-marriott-refused-to-host-uyghur-conference-citing-political-neutrality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/exclusive-marriott-refused-to-host-uyghur-conference-citing-political-neutrality\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: MARRIOTT REFUSED TO HOST UYGHUR CONFERENCE, CITING \u201cPOLITICAL NEUTRALITY\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/marriott-uyghur-conference-d6deb429-9b5e-4759-ba10-98d59e81be12.html\">Axios<\/a>.&nbsp;19 November 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.uyghurcongress.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/unnamed-2021-11-19T175408.115.jpg?resize=170%2C96&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-46015\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Below is an article published by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/marriott-uyghur-conference-d6deb429-9b5e-4759-ba10-98d59e81be12.html\">Axios<\/a>. Photo:Shoshana Gordon\/Axios.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Marriott hotel in Prague declined to host a conference of activists and leaders from China\u2019s Uyghur diaspora this month, citing \u201cpolitical neutrality,\u201d an email shared with Axios shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Chinese government has condemned the World Uyghur Congress, which has attempted to rally global attention to the genocide in Xinjiang, China. The decision to reject the conference reflects China\u2019s growing ability to extend authoritarian control beyond its borders by making clear to corporations that crossing the party\u2019s red lines will be bad for business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The World Uyghur Congress consists mainly of Uyghurs living in exile and advocates for the rights of those who remain in the Xinjiang region in western China, where upwards of one million people have been&nbsp;held in internment camps.<\/li><li>About 200 delegates from 25 countries gathered in Prague from Nov. 12-14 to elect the organization\u2019s new leadership and hold discussions with politicians, academics and civil society representatives from around the world. The Prague Marriott Hotel declined to host the conference.<\/li><li>Melissa Froehlich Flood, Marriott\u2019s senior vice president for global corporate communications, told Axios the hotel would be \u201ccontacting the group to apologize, as the hotel\u2019s response was not consistent with our policies.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How it happened:&nbsp;<\/strong>Working with local partners in Prague, organizers for the conference reached out to several hotels for quotes, Zumretay Arkin, the Munich-based program and advocacy manager for the World Uyghur Congress tells Axios. The group then sent a representative to visit the Marriott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u201cAt first, the person didn\u2019t mention the background information on the conference and the organization that was organizing it,\u201d Arkin says. That information came up during the visit.<\/li><li>Not long thereafter, an email arrived from an events manager at the hotel:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cThank you very much for your visit today. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that we are not able to offer the premises. We consulted the whole matter with our corporate management. For reasons of political neutrality, we cannot offer events of this type with a political theme. Thank you once again for your time and understanding.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014 Oct. 1 email<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Between the lines:<\/strong>&nbsp;Marriott hotels&nbsp;frequently&nbsp;host&nbsp;political&nbsp;fundraisers&nbsp;and&nbsp;events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The Marriott spokesperson clarified in a statement to Axios that hosting the conference would not have violated any \u201cpolitical neutrality\u201d policy, and said the reference to \u201ccorporate management\u201d in the email referred to \u201chotel-level management.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWe are working with the hotel team to provide additional training and education on our longstanding practices of inclusion,\u201d she said.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The U.S.-based company does<\/strong>&nbsp;have a history of flare-ups involving China, its biggest international market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Marriott International&nbsp;issued a profuse apology&nbsp;in 2018 after Chinese authorities shut down its booking website over an online questionnaire that listed Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as countries, rather than regions of China.<\/li><li>\u201cWe do not support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,\u201d the statement said.<\/li><li>Also in 2018, Marriott&nbsp;fired&nbsp;a U.S.-based employee who used a company Twitter account to like a post by a pro-Tibet group.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The big picture:<\/strong>&nbsp;The World Uyghur Congress has repeatedly drawn the ire of Chinese authorities, who have declared it a terrorist group for allegedly fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, though the group does not promote violence and is on no international terrorist lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Ahead of the conference, the Chinese embassy in Prague&nbsp;condemned&nbsp;the Congress and the politicians who participated.<\/li><li>Prague mayor Zden\u011bk H\u0159ib, who attended the conference,&nbsp;said&nbsp;in response: \u201cI hear that China is unhappy about this conference being held here in Prague. Well, I am unhappy there\u2019s a country in 2021 that has concentration camps.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they\u2019re saying:&nbsp;<\/strong>The conference organizers found Marriott\u2019s response \u201cshocking,\u201d Arkin says, adding that none of the other hotels they reached out to expressed any concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\u201cWe organize international events all the time and this is the first time we were given this excuse,\u201d she says.<\/li><li>\u201cIt is chilling because of the broader concept of how China is really disrupting Western democracies,\u201d she adds.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Axios.&nbsp;19 November 2021 Below is an article published by&nbsp;Axios. Photo:Shoshana Gordon\/Axios. The Marriott hotel in Prague declined to host a conference of activists and leaders from China\u2019s Uyghur diaspora this month, citing \u201cpolitical neutrality,\u201d an email shared with Axios shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dukva.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}