Volkswagen plant in China
To ensure that no employees work under duress at the Volkswagen plant in Urumchi, the company has set up a whistleblower system and an external ombudsman, among other things.
(Photo: Reuters)
Beijing, Frankfurt Forced sterilizations, forced labor, mass internments – these are serious allegations that are made against the Chinese government in studies, media reports and by governments around the world. Beijing is believed to have committed serious human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region of western China. Under the guise of combating terrorism, the government is subjugating the Muslim Uyghur minority – this is the accusation, for which there is overwhelming evidence.
The name “Xinjiang” has become a symbol of the human rights violations in the region around the world. This is becoming more and more of a problem for the German car manufacturer Volkswagen.
Because VW is one of the few foreign companies that has a plant in Urumchi, the provincial capital, together with its Chinese partner. Volkswagen employs 600 people in Xinjiang within its Sino-German joint venture SAIC Volkswagen, all of whom are Chinese citizens. According to Volkswagen, around ten percent belong to the Muslim Uyghur minority.
Thanks to its on-site presence, VW has repeatedly hit negative headlines around the world. It started at the beginning of last year: At that time, VW was exposed to sharp criticism when CEO Herbert Diess, approached by a journalist about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, claimed that he knew nothing about it.
The statements of Diess to the BBC had followed many executives in the group in disbelief. The boss was not very professional, said a manager: “After all, the topic is part of the standard briefing when traveling to China.” So Diess knew that at least human rights violations were being discussed.
In March of this year, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) then raised the charge in a broad study that Volkswagen is one of those companies in whose value chain Uyghur forced laborers are used.
Media reports and studies describe the system of repression and re-education of the Uyghurs by the Chinese government as follows: First, they are put in detention centers because they have attracted attention because of their religion. After that, many are forced to work in selected companies in order to maintain control over them.
VW denies forced labor in the supply chain
VW started an investigation after the ASPI report. “The allegations mentioned in the ASPI report about forced labor in our supply chain are wrong,” says the Handelsblatt. None of the suppliers named in the report are “direct suppliers” to VW. “No further evidence” of forced labor was found in the value chain.
To ensure that no employees work under duress at the Volkswagen plant in Urumqi, the company has set up a whistleblower system and an external ombudsman, among other things.
But the company’s commitment remains a risk, which VW China boss Stefan Wöllenstein admits in an interview with the TV channels ARD, ZDF, BBC and Deutsche Welle. “We can only see that we are creating the best possible working and living conditions for our employees where we have direct access, i.e. within our production facility and within the framework of the supply chain,” said Wöllenstein on Wednesday in Beijing.
“Anything that happens outside of the factory fences is not directly accessible to us at first.” When asked how Volkswagen could guarantee that no forced labor takes place and that none of the employees were in a concentration camp, Wöllenstein said: “None The company can guarantee that. ”
This is also how experts who deal with the topic see it, such as Katja Drinhausen, who has lived in China for a long time and, among other things, researches human rights at the Berlin China think tank Merics. “For Volkswagen and other companies in the region there is no way to reliably rule out the possibility that employees are forced to work in the company or sub-companies,” says Drinhausen.
“In a place where extensive digital monitoring takes place and even the use of certain messenger services is seen as a sign of extremism, it seems impossible that an employee can go undetected to an ombudsman. Not to mention that they also communicate the incidents to the outside world. ”
Stephan Wöllenstein
“We can only see where we have direct access that we are creating the best possible working and living conditions for our employees.”
(Photo: Volkswagen AG)
But even without employees having to work directly in the plant, the presence of VW in Xinjiang alone is a problem, say experts like Drinhausen. With the plant in Xinjiang, VW is supporting the Chinese government’s propaganda that everything is okay in the region, says Drinhausen.
“Especially a company like Volkswagen, which comes from a country with firm, liberal values and is committed to observing human rights, is cited in Chinese propaganda as evidence that the reports of human rights violations are exaggerated or fabricated.”
“In any case, the location makes no business sense”
The question is why VW is exposing itself to the risk in Xinjiang at all. At first there was massive pressure from the government in Beijing to finally invest in the region, says a manager at VW. As one of the largest industrial groups from abroad, Lower Saxony was ultimately no longer able to defend itself and bowed to the pressure. “In any case, the location makes no business sense,” said the manager. Only cars are finished at the plant. This work could easily have been done at the existing locations.
The plant has not been busy for years. Although it is designed to produce 50,000 vehicles, only 20,000 were made there last year. On request, VW did not want to comment on the question of whether the plant is working economically. VW boss Wöllenstein admits that the closure would be “bearable for us from an economic point of view”.
Nevertheless, according to its own statements, the group wants to hold onto the plant – despite the high risk in the region. The company justifies this with the expectation that the economy in western China will grow in the coming years. “We would also like the factory to produce 50,000 or 60,000 units, and that is why this factory, like all 32 surrounding production sites, is regularly reviewed,” said VW China boss Wöllenstein. “But once you have decided on such a large investment in a location, you will of course hold on to it for a long time.”
Observers suspect the reluctance of the company to close the plant is due to fear of repression by the Chinese government. VW is dependent on the Chinese market, and the company now sells 40 percent of its vehicles in the People’s Republic.
For most international companies, Xinjiang has become a no-go area due to serious human rights violations. Beijing business circles unanimously say that no company would make a new investment decision for Xinjiang today.
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