The US’ flagship electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla launched a showroom recently in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a normal move for an auto business because residents in that region are becoming increasingly affluent now and many aspire to purchase a car. However, some political figures, trade groups and organizations in the US have gone too far in criticizing and condemning Tesla for “alienating the policy of the Biden administration” and “taking the side of Beijing”.
In response to a media question about Tesla’s new showroom in Xinjiang, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said earlier this week in a statement that it wouldn’t comment on the situation surrounding one company, but said in general it believes “the private sector should oppose the Chinese government’s human rights abuses”.
Those political forces in the US that point an accusing finger at Elon Musk and his Tesla need to take a good look in their own backyard. They should focus more on perpetual human rights abuses at home, like the monumental Black Lives Matter campaign in 2020 and American police brutality against blacks and other minority groups, rather than trying to disrupt a car company’s normal business operations abroad.
Actually, many politicians in the US are hypocrites who always want to position themselves firmly on so-called “moral high ground” by trying to hijack Tesla’s business in order to serve their own political ends.
As a matter of fact, through four decades of vigorous infrastructure and social welfare investment by China’s central government, Xinjiang has experienced rapid economic development, with a large number of Uygur and other ethnic people launching their own small-size enterprises. Compared with 40 years ago, the livelihoods of tens of thousands local residents have improved considerably.
But, the US government, with the aim of containing China’s economic rise, has tried over many years to foment chaos and instability in China’s outlying regions – like Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet), Hong Kong and Taiwan — in order to fulfill its underhanded goal of muddying China’s domestic affairs and upending China’s non-stop growth momentum. The majority of Chinese people are well aware of those US politicians’ sly and malicious plan.
In Xinjiang, Washington made up a “Century Lie” accusing China’s anti-terrorist and Islamic extremist actions as “genocide,” and also alleged “forced labor” was used in Xinjiang. In December, President Joe Biden even signed the so-called Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law which prohibits the import of goods made in the region.
With Tesla announcing its arrival in Urumqi city with a Weibo post on December 31 saying: “On the last day of 2021, we meet in Xinjiang, and in 2022 let us together launch Xinjiang on an electric journey”, anti-China forces in the US and elsewhere in the Western world felt annoyed as well as aggrieved by Tesla’s “betrayal”. These people are demanding that Tesla and Elon Musk close the showroom in Urumqi.
Nevertheless, the demand is unreasonable and egregious, because it is based on nothing but utter lies and stories fabricated by extremist anti-China elements who have been engaged in a long-term smear campaign against China and Chinese people.
Tesla has achieved eye-catching business success in China. The company delivered more than 930,000 vehicles in 2021, a surge of 87 percent compared with the year before. More than half of the vehicles the company produced in 2021 were made in Shanghai, according to estimates by Credit Suisse. With the launch of the Urumqi showroom, Tesla’s website says it now has stores in 30 provinces and regions in China’s mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
But, the US government is set to stir up trouble for American companies operating in China, as the so-called Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act pressures American firms to cut ties with local suppliers in Xinjiang. The politicians in Washington hopes they could coerce the private sector into participate in their anti-China campaign, and give their made-up lies credence.
Elon Musk enjoys enormous popularity in China for his entrepreneurship and his vision. Amazed by the efficiency of the construction of Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory in only 10 months, Musk once said “I really think China is the future”. He is right. The Chinese market values entrepreneurship, genuine partnership and is business friendly.
Unlike those US politicians who are mostly biased and ill willed, aspiring to impede and stifle this country’s economic growth, the Chinese people, of all ethnicities, will always extend a friendly welcome to foreign investors and companies that do not discriminate against China, vilify China’s distinct social system, and refuse to wade into the political thicket or any trap set by those sinister politicians.
A view of a Tesla’s sales and service center in Beijing in August. Photo: cnsphoto
