Topline
A shareholder meeting hosted by Volkswagen was interrupted by about 10 activists who protested the German automaker’s factory presence in Xinjiang, China, according to multiple reports, with chants and banners focused on documented human rights violations in that region.
Activists are taken out of the room at the 2023 Volkswagen Annual General Meeting. (Photo by Britta … [+]
Key Facts
Reuters reported the activists, who were hurried out of the meeting, included a topless woman with the words “Dirty Money” painted on her back, and others who carried banners that read “End Uyghur Forced Labour.”
Volkswagen stood behind its plant based in the Xinjiang province of China, a region where human rights groups say hundreds of thousands of Uyghur people have been detained and persecuted.
Volkswagen investors have called on the company to request that its joint venture partner, Chinese automobile company SAIC, have an independent audit of the plant completed to ensure it is not using forced labor.
VW’s chief of China operations Ralf Brandstaetter visited the Xinjiang plant earlier this year and said Wednesday the company does not see “any evidence” of human rights violations at the plant.
A video from the meeting showed an object believed to be cake being thrown in the direction of board member Wolfgang Porsche during a speech by Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of the Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board.
Key Background: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported last year that detentions of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region may constitute international crimes and in particular “crimes against humanity.” Speaking on a potential audit of Volkswagen’s Xinjiang plant, Brandstaetter added an audit was not able to be implemented without agreement from its joint venture partner, SAIC.
Tangent: Companies such as Apple, Nike and the Gap have faced similar criticism for their business ties to Xinjiang. A 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute alleged the companies, along with several others, benefited from Uyghurs working in factories within their supply chains.
Big Number: Volkswagen’s stock has fallen about 46% in the last two years.
Further Reading:
Volkswagen defends China record at turbulent shareholder meeting (Reuters)
Topless protester briefly disrupts VW annual meeting (Associated Press)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/05/10/activists-disrupt-volkswagen-shareholder-meeting-over-forced-labor-concerns/