U.S rights and trade groups have criticized Tesla’s opening of a showroom in the far Western Chinese region of Xinjiang.
Xinjiang has been tainted by Western governments, U.N experts and rights groups. They alleged that more than a million people, mainly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained in camps at Xinjiang.
China has rejected accusations of forced labour or any other abuses at Xinjiang.
Tesla announced the showroom’s opening in Xinjiang’s regional capital, Urumqi, on its official Weibo account last Friday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has criticised the move, saying that Tesla was “supporting genocide”.
Similar criticism came from a U.S. trade group, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, and U.S. senator Marco Rubio.
The United States and a few other countries plan a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February over the issue.
Last month, U.S. chipmaker Intel faced similar calls after telling its suppliers not to source products or labour from Xinjiang, prompting it to apologise for “the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public”.
