China-owned NYC tower has blocked the Amnesty International lease
Amnesty International has widely protested against the Chinese treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Here, a protester is confronted with the audience of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang October 16, 2018 in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Pierre Crom | Getty Images
A state-owned Chinese shipping company refused to hire an office in New York City for the human rights group Amnesty International USA, The New York Times reported Monday.
Cosco Shipping acquired Orient Overseas in 201[ads1]7 and took ownership of the company's real estate investments, including the office building in question, called Wall Street Plaza.
A spokesman for Amnesty International USA said the organization was told that it is "not the best tenant" for a building owned by a Chinese state company, according to The New York Times.
Amnesty, a non-governmental organization, regularly calls attention to human rights abuse in China. Recently, the UN has set up an international missile mission in China's Xinjiang territory: An Amnesty International report of 2018 documents how China is in prison camps in the region where up to one million people are held and tortured to break a "very restrictive" and discriminatory "law aimed at" de-extremization "of Muslim ethnic groups.
"Open or even private views of religious and cultural affiliation, including cultivating an" abnormal "beard, wearing a veil or shutters, plain prayer, fasting or avoiding alcohol, or having books or articles about Islam or Uighur culture, can be considered extremist "under the regulations," said the group.
The Chinese government is sensitive to human rights violations, working hard within its own borders to destroy information on such charges, both online and offline.
"We planned to sign the lease until we were told a week ago by our contact at Orient Overseas – who owns the building – that his bosses were declining," said Robyn Shepherd, a spokeswoman at Amnesty International USA. [19659002] "His answer was in line with the fact that we were not the best tenant for a building owned by a Chinese government firm) and that we would probably not be a tenant there, anyway, given the owners. "
W York Times reported that it did not belong to Cosco Shipping. The company did not immediately raise a CNBC request for comment.
Shepherd told the Times that Amnesty International USA is investigating other rental options in New York.
Read more about China and Amnesty International USA in The New York Times report.
