Internal Chinese documents on Xinjiang

Last weekend, the New York Times published internal documents of the Chinese government, providing information regarding the circumstances and the extent of the arbitrary internment of about 1.5 million members of the Muslim minorities of the Uyghurs, the Kazakhs, and the Kyrgyz people. Many Western companies are active in the affected region of Xinjiang.

Volkswagen AG operates a factory there, together with a Chinese partner. "Considering the huge number of detainees, it is very likely that there are also VW employees among them," stated Hanno Schedler, Expert on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, on behalf of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). "The Volkswagen Group has a responsibility towards these employees. The management in Wolfsburg must demand further information from the Chinese authorities. "In addition, the car manufacturer should publicly demand an end to these crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, and a closure of the camps.

"As we know from the leaked documents, the Chinese authorities are using terms from the field of biology – for example by referring to a 'virus' that has to be eliminated," Schedler criticized. Germany and Volkswagen AG should be very concerned about this. The federal government must ensure that companies producing in Xinjiang will comply with the 2016 National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. Among other things, the plan provides that companies must ensure that their business activities will not have negative effects on the human rights situation."

The so-called "Code of Conduct" of the Volkswagen AG – which was also signed by CEO Herbert Diess, in addition to other VW managers – explicitly mentions respect for internationally recognized human rights and, explicitly, compliance with these rights. In an interview this April, Diess had stated that was not informed about the existence of the reeducation camps. In a later statement, Volkswagen had revised this. "Now that the internal documents were published in the New York Times, Volkswagen AG will have to clarify what measures will be taken to comply with the self-imposed business principles," Schedler stated.

Header image: Daniel Zimmermann via Flickr