December 3, 2021
1 min read

Airbnb allegedly hosts Xinjiang rentals on land owned by sanctioned group

Airbnb is one of 14 top-level sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing….reports Asian Lite News

Airbnb, a US-based vacation rental company, has more than a dozen homes available for rent in China’s Xinjiang region on land owned by an organization sanctioned by the US government for complicity in genocide and forced labour, according to Axios investigation.

The listings expose Airbnb to regulatory risk under US law. They also land yet another American tech company in the crossfire between the US and China, Axios said in the report.

Airbnb is one of 14 top-level sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The US, UK and a growing number of governments have said that they are considering a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics over the Uyghur genocide in China’s Xinjiang province.

The Chinese government is promoting tourism in Xinjiang where it is accused of arbitrarily detaining Uyghurs in internment centres.

Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of Strategy Risks, a firm that specialises in assessing China and Xinjiang-related risk, told Axios that Airbnb’s operations in Xinjiang “pose an unacceptably high level of regulatory and reputational risk for the company in the US.

Airbnb had not previously discussed the listings with the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is in charge of sanctions compliance and enforcement.

Christopher Nulty, the Airbnb spokesperson, said in a statement provided to Axios that the company takes its obligation to comply with US Treasury rules incredibly seriously.

“OFAC rules require Airbnb to screen the parties we are transacting with, not the underlying landowners,” the statement added.

Alex Zerden, former Treasury official who worked on Global Magnitsky Act sanctions, said that sanctions compliance is not a check-the-box exercise.

“There are other considerations within the compliance regime that go beyond pure transaction screening with the immediate counterparty,” Zerden added.

Axios said that it identified 14 Airbnb listings on land owned by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a large paramilitary organization that has long controlled vast swaths of Xinjiang’s land, natural resources and economy. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Pak trade balance worsens

Previous Story

Onus of missing persons falls on PM: Islamabad HC

Next Story

Mossad recruited Iranian scientists to blow up nuclear facility

Latest from -Top News

‘Kill and Dump’ Haunts Balochistan Again

The latest killings have reignited accusations of extrajudicial executions and the use of counterterrorism laws to cover up custodial deaths in Balochistan….reports Asian Lite News Concerns have deepened across Balochistan following the

‘ASEAN Expands, But Keeps Its Soul’

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan urged ASEAN to uphold its unity and strategic resolve amid intensifying geopolitical tensions and mounting external pressures…reports Asian Lite News Consensus and inclusivity will remain the cornerstones

Bangladesh bends to beat Trump’s blow

Dhaka seeks compromise as Trump’s 35% tariff looms large over key exports; Washington urges worker protections, factory relocation to US…reports Asian Lite News Bangladesh has opened the second round of critical trade

China seethes as US lands F-35s in PH

As US F-35 jets land in the Philippines for the first time, Manila cements its frontline role in Washington’s power play against rising China….reports Asian Lite News The Philippines is rapidly cementing
Go toTop

Don't Miss

China, Pakistan include Afghanistan in BRI

Reports said that the Taliban has agreed with China and

Xi’s quest for power grows stronger

Time and again Xi Jinping has warned of the dangers