Major American companies salute sanctioned Chinese official

Walmart lists “Respect for the individual” as one of its core values. Coca-Cola says it works toward “a better shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet.” Merck explains that it is “committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.” Amway proclaims its principles of “freedom, family, hope, and reward.”

Those words ring rather hollow when one considers how these and other major American companies just saluted a top Chinese Communist Party official, Wang Chen. Vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress, Wang was sanctioned by the State Department on Monday in response to China’s escalating repression in Hong Kong.