Starbucks enters Xinjiang in calculated geopolitical risk

Starbucks Corp has taken its green apron to Xinjiang, a region where Western governments accuse Beijing of widespread human-rights abuses and where the U.S. restricts imports over forced-labor concerns. The opening of two stores in Urumqi shows how the Chinese private-equity firm that now controls Starbucks’ business in its second-largest market is willing to weather Washington’s anger.

Starbucks completed the sale of a 60% controlling stake in its China operations to Boyu Capital in April. The venture aims to grow from roughly 8,000 stores to as many as 20,000, and Xinjiang appears to be a bold, if controversial, first stop.

The U.S. House Select Committee on China called the decision “shocking and morally bankrupt” for “a company that prides itself on social responsibility” and demanded the stores close. Its chairman, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), was blunt in that statement headlined “Starbucks Serves Up Venti-Sized Genocide.”

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