(Berlin Reuters) Ralf Brandstaetter, the head of China ’s business in Germany, visited the factory in Xinjiang in mid -February and said that he did not see signs of forced labor.
According to Reuters, Bearing visited Volkswagen's factory in Xinjiang from February 16th to 17th, and conducted long -term communication with seven employees including Han, Uyghur and Kazakhs. Some employeesIt is a translator or talked directly with him in English.Bearing also talked with other employees briefly.
He said that the conversation with the employees of the Xinjiang factory was not monitored by the Chinese government, and it also added that this would not be his last visit to the Xinjiang plant.
After visiting the verification in person, Berede said, "I can talk to people and draw conclusions, or try to verify the facts (from the joint venture partner), and no contradictions are found." Thomas STEG, chief lobbying officer of Volkswagen, said on Tuesday (February 28) that Volkswagen will fulfill the contract with the joint venture partner SAIC Group and continue to operate the Xinjiang plant until 2030.The company denies the conditions for maintaining the Xinjiang factory in order to continue production in all parts of China.
Steig said that Volkswagen will seek new partners globally to diversify cooperation, but also pointed out that "it is impossible to unblock with SAIC."
Human Rights Organization has always stated that Xinjiang has the existence of human rights violations. German human rights organizations, politicians, and German metal unions (IG Metall) have criticized Volkswagen to set up factories in Xinjiang.In this regard, China has repeatedly emphasized that there are no "forced labor" or "racial extinction" behavior in Xinjiang.
Volkswagen said that it has never found evidence that the Xinjiang plant employees have been forced to work, and believe that since the establishment of the factory in 2012, the company has positively impact local residents.
