Campaigners are urging Tesla Inc. in the United States to close a new showroom in Xinjiang, China's northwestern region, where the government is accused of abusing predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities.

On Friday, Tesla announced the opening of a showroom in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, writing on its Chinese social media account, "Let's begin Xinjiang's electric journey!"

On Monday, the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Tesla and its chairman, Elon Musk, to close the showroom and "cease what amounts to economic support for genocide."

Foreign firms have been under increasing pressure to take stances on Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, and other politically hot matters. The Communist Party's ruling coalition forces businesses to embrace its viewpoints in their advertising and websites. It has targeted clothing and other firms that have expressed concern over reports of forced labor and other human rights violations in Xinjiang.

"No American corporation should conduct business in a region where genocide is being waged against a religious and ethnic minority," the group's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, said in a statement.

According to activists and foreign governments, approximately 1 million Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim minorities have been detained in Xinjiang's detention camps. Chinese officials deny allegations of torture and claim the camps are used for job training and extremism prevention.

Walmart Inc. was threatened with a boycott by the ruling party's discipline agency on Friday after some buyers complained online that they couldn't locate goods from Xinjiang in its Walmart and Sam's Club stores in China.

Intel Corp., the world's largest maker of computer chips, apologized in December for requesting suppliers avoid sourcing goods from Xinjiang after the business was assailed in the state press. Online comments urged for a boycott of its goods.

The United States has prohibited the importation of items from Xinjiang unless it can be established that they were not manufactured using forced labor.

China is a significant market for Tesla. In 2019, the company launched its first factory outside the United States in Shanghai.

Like Volkswagen, General Motors, and Nissan Motor Co., other international automakers operate dealerships in Xinjiang through joint venture partners in China. Volkswagen also has a factory in Urumqi.