The usually chatty Elon Musk has maintained an uncharacteristic silence on his Twitter TWTR page following reports that Tesla Inc. TSLA has opened a showroom in the capital of Xinjiang, the province where human rights advocates have accused the Chinese government of abuses against the Uyghur minority population.
What Happened: Tesla announced the opening of the dealership in a Dec. 31 post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo; the company did not make a similar announcement on any English-language social media site.
Human rights advocates have produced video evidence and testimony from Xinjiang detailing the Chinese government’s campaign against the Uyghurs and members of other Turkic Muslim minority groups. The government has set up internment camps in the region, and human rights groups have accused China of subjecting the camps’ prisoners to slave labor and severe birth control measures.
Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a law banning most imports from Xinjiang, citing the use of forced labor in the region’s manufacturing facilities. The Biden administration has also sanctioned several companies and individuals that are accused of aiding the Chinese campaign against its Uyghur population, though it is uncertain if Tesla will be sanctioned over its new dealership.
Related Link: Parody Video Has Elon Musk And Bernie Sanders Smoking Joints While Trading Barbs
What Happened Next: Musk, who has emerged in recent years as one of the most unpredictable and entertaining voices on Twitter, has not offered his 68.7 million Twitter followers any comment on the Xinjiang dealership. Nor has he followed his modus operandi of tweaking prominent critics of his business operations.
But his failure to engage his critics has not stopped growing criticism on social media.
Scott Paul, president of the nonpartisan Alliance for American Manufacturing, responded to the news by stating, “I'll be blunt: Any company doing business in Xinjiang is complicit in the cultural genocide taking place there. But Tesla's actions are especially despicable.”
The Twitter account for the press office of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who sponsored the bill signed into law by Biden, offered a link to press coverage of the Xinjiang dealership with the statement, “Nationless corporations are helping the Chinese Communist Party cover up genocide and slave labor in the region.”
Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chief executive of the human rights organization Hong Kong Watch, tweeted, “This is outrageous. To open a showroom in a region where #Genocide is being perpetrated is scandalous. @elonmusk @Tesla should re-think, quickly. Stop #UyghurGenocide.”
Andrew J. Phelan, director of the Singapore- and Australian-based MedCare Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, warned that Musk was being used by the Chinese government.
“This is now out of @elonmusk control unless @Tesla exits China which it won’t,” he tweeted. “This is what happens when you invest in China. You’re on their turf. You cede control. China’s going to use Xinjiang now to test western multinationals, just watch.”
Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor at Newsweek, voiced her disapproval by tweeting, “Man, this is just appalling. Here in the U.S. @elonmusk likes to play at being some kind of bad boy renegade. Meanwhile he's playing ball with China and opening a showroom in the region where China is committing an actual genocide against Uyghur Muslims.”
And Jack Posobiec, senior editor of Human Events, cautioned Twitter denizens not to be fooled by Musk’s often-playful social media persona.
“Speaking of Elon Musk - he just opened a Tesla showroom in Xinjiang,” he tweeted. “Just in case his Twitter still got some of ya fooled.”
Posobiec was confronted by a Musk defender who claimed “Guy builds cool rockets. Don’t care.” Posobiec’s response: “You will when he sells them to China.”
Benzinga reached out to Musk via Twitter for a response, but as of this writing did not receive an acknowledgment.
Photo: Steve Juvetson / Flickr Creative Commons
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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