Press Release – For Immediate Release
1 June 2023
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The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) strongly condemns Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s recent meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Tesla’s expansion in China, its presence in Occupied East Turkistan, and its opposition to ‘decoupling’ raises alarms, especially considering the ongoing Uyghur Genocide and Uyghur Slave/Forced Labor in Tesla’s supply chains.
“Much of the lithium used in Tesla batteries originate from Occupied East Turkistan, where China is conducting an ongoing campaign of genocide and forced labor,” said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “Through their business relations with the China, Tesla is complicit in China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples,” he added.
Recent investments of more than $2 billion in occupied East Turkistan’s lithium mines and refineries, including those backed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), Tesla’s main supplier, are cementing the region’s position as the leading significant lithium producer despite an ongoing campaign of genocide and slave and forced labor against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples.
“The alliance between Elon Musk and China’s genocidal regime highlights Tesla’s blatant lack of acknowledgment for the ongoing Uyghur Genocide and the slave labor of millions of innocent people, who are being exploited for the company’s benefit,” said ETGE President Ghulam Yaghma.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile calls on Elon Musk and Tesla to end their complicity in the ongoing Uyghur Genocide in East Turkistan and demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility and human dignity.
