Electric carmaker Tesla drew criticism from activists after opening a showroom in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang region, where Chinese officials have conducted a crackdown on Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority group.
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On Friday, the Texas-based car company announced the opening of the new showroom on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, with the message: “Let’s start Xinjiang’s all-electric journey!” the Associated Press reported.
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The announcement drew condemnation from Muslim activist groups. “No American corporation should be doing business in a region that is the focal point of a campaign of genocide targeting a religious and ethnic minority,” Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Elon Musk and Tesla must close this new showroom and cease what amounts to economic support for genocide.”
Who are the Uyghurs, and what’s happening to them in China?
American companies have come under mounting pressure, both from Western organizations and consumers and from the Chinese government, to take a side on issues including Taiwan and the persecution of Uyghurs.
Tesla announced Dec. 31 that it opened a showroom in Xinjiang, where many of the region's Uyghurs have been detained, drawing criticism from rights groups. (Reuters)
Walmart came under criticism by China’s anticorruption watchdog after the retail giant removed products made in Xinjiang from its China-based stores and from Sam’s Club. The agency said in a statement on Friday that the company had no “justifiable reason” for stopping the sale of products from an entire region, adding that the decision showed “stupidity and short-sightedness,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
House votes to ban goods made by forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region
A bipartisan measure introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and signed into law by President Biden in late December aims to prevent goods made by Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups under forced labor in the Xinjiang province from entering the United States.
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“Nationless corporations are helping the Chinese Communist Party cover up genocide and slave labor in the region,” Rubio tweeted Monday, with a link to a Wall Street Journal article on Tesla’s move.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
With ‘diplomatic boycott’ of the Olympics, Biden seeks middle ground
In early December, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced a U.S. diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, citing the “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.”
Uyghurs’ Muslim faith puts them at odds with the Chinese Communist Party, which is officially atheist. Starting in 2017, Chinese officials cracked down on the Xinjiang province in an effort to assimilate the Uyghur population, citing national security concerns. It is estimated that more than 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in re-education camps, which drew condemnation internationally and accusations against China of committing genocide. Chinese officials have denied these accusations.
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