Chamath Palihapitiya’s Statements Should Push the Global Community to Care About the Uyghur Genocide

The Save Uyghur Campaign of Justice For All strongly condemns Chamath Palihapitiya, a 10% stakeholder in the Golden State Warriors, for his ruthless attitude towards the Chinese government’s ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs. In a recent All-In Podcast episode, Palihapitiya bursted, “Nobody cares about what is happening to the Uyghurs. Of all the things that I care about, it’s below my line. Every time I say that I care about the Uyghurs, I’m really just lying if I don’t really care. And so, I’d rather not lie to you and tell you the truth, it’s not a priority for me.” Palihapitiya later tweeted in clarification.

With social media backlash to Palihapitiya’s comments mounting, the Golden State Warriors released a statement saying, “As a limited investor who has no day-to-day operating functions with the Warriors, Mr. Palihapitiya does not speak on behalf of our franchise, and his views certainly don’t reflect those of our organization.”

Though we appreciate the Warriors’ statements, Save Uyghur recognizes Palihapitiya as delegitimizing the Chinese government’s atrocities and genocide committed against the Uyghurs. Individuals, business entities, and organizations sharing his ruthless view must be condemned and isolated by the global community. Denial of a genocide is a part of that genocide.

Palihapitiya’s statements reflect a long-held stance in the business world: money over people. “Disney produced Mulan,” noted Serwi Huseyin, Save Uyghur team lead, “a film about famous Chinese female warrior, nearby the concentration camp where Uyghurs are raped, tortured, and killed. Hilton built their hotel on the very ground of an ancient mosque which was demolished by CCP in an attempt to erase our religious identity. Elon Musk in this month opened their showroom in Urumqi, the epicenter of the Uyghur genocide. Now, Palihapitiya is saying that he does not care about Uyghur genocide.”

“The U.S., Canada, U.K., Netherlands, and several other countries declared what the Uyghurs are going through is a genocide, however, business entities are ignoring the call, and still continuing their business relationships with a regime whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent people. They are in effect orchestrating the Uyghur genocide alongside the CCP.”

Save Uyghur calls on businesses and enterprises globally to ensure they are not complicit in China’s genocide of the Uyghurs. Profits made from supply chains infected by Uyghur forced labor must end. We continue to call on the global community to show care for Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking nations in East Turkestan who are grappling with genocide at the hands of the Chinese government.