Tesla opened a new showroom in the capital of Xinjiang, a region at the heart of years-long campaign by Chinese authorities of repression and assimilation against the Uyghur people.
On December 31, there was a Weibo post in Urumqi stating that on the last day of 2021 we meet in Xinjiang. Let's start Xinjiang's electric journey in 2022! The US has imposed a series of sanctions and regulatory measures against China over its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including restrictions on US business dealings with local operators and suppliers, as well as photos of the opening festivities.
President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act last month, and the US government intends to conduct a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics.
Uyghur rights groups criticised the opening of the showroom, reportedly Tesla's 211th in China. The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged its immediate closure and the cessation of what it allegedly amounts to economic support for genocide. No American corporation should be doing business in a region that is a focal point of a campaign of genocide targeting a religious and ethnic minority, said Ibrahim Hooper, the council's director of national communications.
Human Rights Watch s Australia researcher Sophie McNeill said that Beijing and businesses have always banked on a global willingness to put profits ahead of human rights, even when it comes to crimes against humanity, but we must not allow this to continue in 2022.
Elon Musk and his Tesla executives need to consider human rights in Xinjiang or risk being complicit. Tesla has been contacted for comment.
Tesla's decision drew some support on Chinese social media, and followed a week earlier revelations that US tech company Intel had requested suppliers not to source goods, services or labour from the region.
One commenter welcomed Tesla's support for the development and construction of Xinjiang, unlike some other companies, an apparent reference to multinationals trying to reduce business links with Xinjiang over the rights abuses.
Last month, Intel was accused by state media of offending the Chinese market after it wrote to suppliers that they should not use labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region citing restrictions imposed by multiple governments. After a backlash, the company published a letter to apologise for the confusion, saying that the request was in compliance with US law and didn't represent its position on Xinjiang.
Commercial operations in China have become fraught as international brands are under increasing pressure to cut ties with Xinjiang suppliers if they can't guarantee the absence of forced labour or other abuses.
H&M and Intel have been threatened with boycotts in China over their decision to distance themselves from Xinjiang labour and products, and have been widely criticised or threatened by companies like H&M and Intel. Case studies of mass online reactions have found that the nationalistic backlash is often driven or amplified by Chinese state media and state-linked social media accounts.
Xinjiang is the site of a long campaign of forced assimilation by Chinese authorities against ethnic minorities, including Muslim Uyghurs. As many as one million people are estimated to have been detained in mass detention and reeducation centres, and the broader population was subject to suppression of religious and cultural activity, intensified surveillance and policing, alleged forced labour programs and enforced birth control.
The US government has declared the campaign to be genocide, while several human rights and legal groups say the actions amount to crimes against humanity.
Beijing denies all accusations of human rights abuses, and says its policies are part of anti-terrorism efforts and poverty alleviation programs.