Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey said that Coca-Cola and other U.S. companies were practicing a pernicious form of "business as usual" by dodging questions about ethical concerns related to their Beijing Winter Olympics sponsorships during a hearing of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China
After being pressed by Smith, Coca-Cola's Global Head of Human Rights Paul Lalli said that the company did not "have a position" on moving or delaying the games and would "follow these athletes wherever they compete." The congressman responded by rhetorically asking Lalli if it would also be "okay" if the games were moved and held in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Representatives for Visa, Procter & Gamble, Intel and Airbnb also declined to give straight answers when asked about calls to move the games from Beijing, with most insisting that their companies had no position on the issue.