Tesla expansion in Xinjiang has been called misguided by US lawmakers.
"Your misguided expansion into the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region sets a poor example and further empowers the (Chinese government)," Democrats Bill Pascrell and Earl Blumenauer, who chair two House of Representatives and Means subcommittees, issued a joint letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Key Highlights
- Washington, DC –Two congressional oversight and trade committee chairs slammed Tesla's expansion in China's far-western Xinjiang province, where detention centres have attracted widespread condemnation, and questioned the electric vehicle maker about its Chinese product sourcing on Thursday.
- Democrats Bill Pascrell and Earl Blumenauer, who chair two House Ways and Means subcommittees, set a terrible example and further empowered the Chinese government in a joint letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
- Tesla said on New Year's Eve that it had opened a showroom in Xinjiang, becoming the latest foreign company to be caught up in regional tensions.
- In recent years, Xinjiang has become a major point of contention between Western nations and China.
- China's treatment of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang has been described by the US as genocide.
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Washington, DC –Two congressional oversight and trade committee chairs slammed Tesla's expansion in China's far-western Xinjiang province, where detention centres have attracted widespread condemnation, and questioned the electric vehicle maker about its Chinese product sourcing on Thursday.
Democrats Bill Pascrell and Earl Blumenauer, who chair two House Ways and Means subcommittees, set a terrible example and further empowered the Chinese government in a joint letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla said on New Year's Eve that it had opened a showroom in Xinjiang, becoming the latest foreign company to be caught up in regional tensions.
In recent years, Xinjiang has become a major point of contention between Western nations and China. According to UN experts and rights groups, more than a million individuals, mostly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been held in camps there.
Requests for comment from the Chinese Embassy in Washington and Tesla were not immediately returned.
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In the letter, Pascrell and Blumenauer asked Musk if Tesla sourced any goods made or manufactured in Xinjiang and, if so, to name them. They also inquired about Tesla's financial ties to Xinjiang-based enterprises as well as the company's plans to expand into other Chinese regions.
The company has a factory in Shanghai, where it is increasing manufacturing in response to rising sales in China. Tesla vehicles are also being exported from China to Europe and other regions.
President Joe Biden and members of Congress in the United States have put pressure on businesses to distance themselves from Xinjiang. On December 23, Biden signed a measure prohibiting the import of goods manufactured in the region. The two congressmen said they wanted to "better comprehend Tesla's compliance" with the new law and other trade restrictions in the United States.
China's treatment of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang has been described by the US as genocide. China has denied any allegations of forced labour or other human rights violations.
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