Starbucks Xinjiang cafes draw China-US rights clash

China's foreign ministry accused a US congressional committee of fabricating claims after the committee's chairman urged Starbucks to close two newly opened cafes in Xinjiang over alleged rights abuses.

John Moolenaar, chairman of the US House Select Committee on China, called Starbucks's decision to open stores in the regional capital Urumqi on Tuesday "morally bankrupt" and urged the company to close them. He said the cafes were the company's first in Xinjiang.

Moolenaar said the store openings tied an American brand to what he called the Chinese Communist Party's campaign against Uyghurs.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Saturday that the committee was "fabricating claims" for political purposes to attack China. He said the allegation of genocide in Xinjiang was a lie.

Activists and foreign governments have accused Chinese authorities of widespread abuses against Xinjiang's predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority. The United States has labelled the situation a genocide.

The United Nations warned in 2022 of possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, including the detention of more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in camps. Rights groups say serious abuses, including forced labour, continue in the region.