Explained: Why is Elon Musk experiencing flak for his China ventures?
Elon Musk's voyage in China has not gone as planned. Why is he being chastised for his latest forays?
Thursday, January 6, 2022 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
- Elon Musk's journey in China, from Tesla to SpaceX, has not gone as anticipated.
- Tesla with its new Xinjiang showroomTesla has been under fire from campaigners for constructing a showroom in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region, where Chinese authorities have been cracking down on Uyghurs.
- Zhao Lijian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday during a routine press conference that China warned the United Nations on December 3 about two "near contacts" between SpaceX's Starlink satellites and China's space station this year.
- The agency stated in a statement that the corporation had no "justifiable justification" to halt sales of products from an entire region, calling the action stupid and short-sighted.
- Prior to the run-in with Walmart, Intel apologised to the Chinese people for sending a public letter to its suppliers requesting that they avoid from procuring from Xinjiang.
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Elon Musk's journey in China, from Tesla to SpaceX, has not gone as anticipated. While he may be Time Magazine's Person of the Year, he has not been China's flavour of the month.
Despite Musk's grandiose aspirations for the country and the release of electrification models that will assist Beijing in progressively transitioning to an electric mode of transportation, criticism is growing toward Musk for his recent initiatives.
What, then, has Elon Musk done to combat this backlash? The Indian Express examines.
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Tesla with its new Xinjiang showroom
Tesla has been under fire from campaigners for constructing a showroom in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region, where Chinese authorities have been cracking down on Uyghurs. The automobile manufacturer recently announced the inauguration of the new showroom on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, with the statement "Let's begin Xinjiang's all-electric trip!" according to the Associated Press.
Muslim activist groups condemned the announcement. "No American organisation should conduct business in a region where genocide is being waged against a religious and ethnic minority," Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. "Elon Musk and Tesla must immediately shut down this new showroom and stop providing economic support for genocide."
This occurred at a time when US President Joe Biden signed legislation prohibiting the importation of goods manufactured by Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups compelled to work in Xinjiang province. Senator Marco Rubio, who was instrumental in creating this bill, slammed Tesla's move on Twitter. "United States-based firms are assisting the Chinese Communist Party in concealing genocide and slave labour in the region," he tweeted.
Additionally, in early December, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declared the US would boycott the 2018 Beijing Olympics on diplomatic grounds, claiming "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang."
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What does China have against SpaceX?
Following charges that SpaceX's satellites jeopardise the safety of China's space station, requests for penalties against Elon Musk's company have increased.
Zhao Lijian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday during a routine press conference that China warned the United Nations on December 3 about two "near contacts" between SpaceX's Starlink satellites and China's space station this year. According to the dossier Beijing provided to the UN, the space station, dubbed Tiangong, made evasive manoeuvres on July 1 and October 21 to avoid colliding with the satellites. "The United States purports to be a big proponent of the concept of'responsible behaviour in outer space,' but it violated its treaty and created a major threat to astronaut safety," Zhao added, referring to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
Beijing's protest received widespread coverage in state media, inflaming popular wrath toward Musk and his firms. China's state broadcaster CCTV released a video online on Tuesday criticising SpaceX, with the hashtag "The US is sending its double standards to outer space."
Some Chinese pundits even claimed that China should accelerate the deployment of its own satellites in order to compete with Musk.
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Are Tesla and SpaceX the only companies to have encountered these difficulties?
American businesses have recently come under intense pressure to take a position on a variety of issues, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the persecution of Uyghurs, from both Western organisations and consumers as well as the Chinese government.
Walmart had come under fire from China's anti-corruption commission for removing Xinjiang-made products from its China-based stores and Sam's Club. The agency stated in a statement that the corporation had no "justifiable justification" to halt sales of products from an entire region, calling the action "stupid and short-sighted." "Because China is Walmart's second-largest overseas market, they must demonstrate sufficient sincerity and attitude, accept facts, discern right from wrong, and respect China's principles and citizens' feelings," the agency stated. "If not, Chinese citizens and consumers will reply forcefully through their actions."
Prior to the run-in with Walmart, Intel apologised to the Chinese people for sending a public letter to its suppliers requesting that they avoid from procuring from Xinjiang. In March, Hennes & Mauritz AB's H&M discovered that its presence had been deleted from China's most popular e-commerce, ride-hailing, daily-deals, and map applications, after the Swedish clothing brand's decision to discontinue sourcing from the country's Xinjiang province.
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China and the Uyghurs
The Uyghurs are a nomadic Turkic people indigenous to China's Xinjiang province in the northwest. Many Uyghurs are Muslims, and their faith has pitted them against the Chinese Communist Party, which is officially atheistic.
China justifies the repression by citing intermittent terrorist strikes in Xinjiang and a Uyghur independence movement. According to Uyghur activists, years of state-sanctioned oppression and discrimination against Uyghurs have spurred grassroots opposition to the government. Ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and China's Han majority have simmered in the region for decades, occasionally erupting in violence. In 2009, riots erupted in Xinjiang's capital city, Urumqi, killing 197 people and injuring many more.
In 2017, Xinjiang launched a huge political reeducation campaign, arresting around 1 million Uyghurs from all walks of life. Additionally, the Xinjiang government implemented a high-tech surveillance system throughout the region, which recorded Uyghurs' activities via police checkpoints, facial recognition surveillance cameras, and official house visits.
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