Enlarge image
Anthropologist Zenz: “The Uighurs feel abandoned by the global community”
Photo: Carolyn Kaster / AP / picture alliance
SPIEGEL:
After BASF, Volkswagen is now also examining a possible withdrawal from the Chinese region of Xinjiang. Has public pressure become too great?
Zenz:
BASF and VW have no place in Xinjiang. Now it's time to get down to business. For the first time, VW has now been proven to have a connection to forced labor. However, it is still unclear whether the group is serious about its withdrawal plans.
SPIEGEL:
What evidence of forced labor did you find?
Zenz:
In 2019, VW opened a car test track together with the state-owned company SAIC in the city of Turpan. Photos show Uyghur workers in military uniform who, according to reports from the developer, were placed through a forced labor transfer. Employees of a company that were involved in the construction of the test track were also deployed in measures to spy on and suppress the Uyghurs.
SPIEGEL:
VW emphasizes that it has no evidence of forced labor.
Zenz:
If you look away with both eyes, you obviously won't notice what's going on in your own company. On the other hand, anyone who is even remotely concerned with the injustice system in Xinjiang knows how high the risk is that Chinese partner companies will use Uighur forced laborers.
SPIEGEL:
Would VW's withdrawal from the region benefit the Muslim minority?
Zenz:
The Uighurs feel abandoned by the international community. A withdrawal of BASF and VW from Xinjiang would be an important symbolic step. The government in Beijing would finally be confronted with the consequences of its actions.