Volkswagen to sell China’s Xinjiang operations

In a commentary, German tabloid Bild noted that Volkswagen faced pressure from the Berlin government and capital markets to pull out of Xinjiang.

“For too long, the company has turned a blind eye to the human rights situation,” it said.

Beijing is accused of imprisoning more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention centers in Xinjiang.

Activists and Uighurs overseas have told of a range of abuses inside the facilities, including torture, forced labor, forced sterilization and political indoctrination.

A 2022 UN report detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence – as well as forced labor – in the region.

But he stopped short of labeling Beijing’s actions “genocide,” as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done.

Calls grew louder for Volkswagen to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemical giant BASF announced this year that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there.

An external audit commissioned by Volkswagen last year found no evidence of forced labor among the plant’s 197 employees.

But the consulting firm that wrote the report acknowledged “data collection challenges” for China audits.

The Turpan test track was not part of the audit.

In response to Volkswagen’s forced labor report, China urged companies not to be “blinded by lies” about its rights record in Xinjiang.