"Volkswagen must be certain that its supply chains are clean," said Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at Deka, a top-20 Volkswagen shareholder.Ĭhina chief Ralf Brandstaetter said: "We do not see any evidence of human rights abuses at the plant," adding that the carmaker was not able to implement an audit without agreement from SAIC.īrandstaetter visited the plant earlier this year and said on Wednesday: "I have no reason to doubt my impressions or the information available to me." Investors called on Volkswagen to request its joint venture partner SAIC seeks an independent external audit of the Xinjiang plant. Rights groups have documented abuses including mass forced labour in detention camps which China has denied.
The United Nations said last year that China's "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity. BERLIN, May 10 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) defended its record in China and its decision to jointly own a plant in the Xinjiang region after activists and investors lashed out at the carmaker at a volatile annual general shareholder meeting on Wednesday.Ībout ten activists, including one topless woman with 'Dirty Money' painted on her back, interrupted executives' speeches, shouting that the carmaker's vehicles were built with forced labour and waving banners that read: 'End Uyghur Forced Labour'.
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