Amnesty International: China-owned NYC building denies lease

NEW YORK – A giant shipping conglomerate owned by the Chinese government has declined to lease space in a building it owns in lower Manhattan to the U.S. chapter of Amnesty International, an organization that’s been critical of China’s human rights abuses.

Amnesty International U.S.A. told The New York Times that just as it was about to sign a lease last week for office space in Wall Street Plaza, the building’s owner, Orient Overseas, said its new parent company, Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., put a stop to it.

The human right group says they were told they were “not the best tenant” for the 33-story tower on Pine Street.

The Times says Cosco did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Amnesty International has urged action against China’s mass internment of ethnic minority Muslims.

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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com