WASHINGTON, Jan 7 Reuters -- Two U.S. lawmakers raised concerns about Airbnb Inc's business activities in China's Xinjiang region, where Washington says Beijing is committing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim groups.
Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative James McGovern, two Democrats who formerly chaired the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, sent Airbnb a letter asking about some of its listings in Xinjiang and other issues.
More than a dozen of Airbnb listings in Xinjiang are owned by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps XPCC, which was hit by U.S. Treasury Department sanctions in 2020, according to an Axios website.
The action freezes U.S. assets of the company and officials and prohibits Americans from dealing with them.
The U.S. Department of State said XPCC is a quasi-military organization that is directly involved in forced labor and possibly other human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
The legislators said they were raising questions about Airbnb's commitment to human rights and anti-discrimination in China as it sponsors the Beijing Winter Olympics next month.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Friday repeated its denials of abuse in Xinjiang and said certain members of Congress repeatedly hyped up the issues and exerted pressure on companies. It claimed some lawmakers had a malicious intention of hijacking business with political schemes and keeping China down with Xinjiang-related issues.