Volkswagen faced a barrage of criticism from campaigners on Tuesday after the head of its Chinese business said he saw no sign of forced labour during a visit to the carmaker's Xinjiang plant.
"I can talk to people and draw my conclusions. I can try and verify the facts, and that's what I did. I didn't find any contradictions," he said, adding it was his first visit but not his last.
Campaigners at the World Uyghur Congress in Germany and researchers from Sheffield Hallam University, who authored a report on the auto industry supply chain's links to Xinjiang, said the visit to the region and conversations with workers were likely planned and coordinated with authorities. The plant, which previously assembled the Santana, has seen 65% staff cuts since the pandemic and only conducts final quality checks and installation of certain features before handing over vehicles to dealers for sale in the region.REPUTATIONAL RISK
The carmaker was initially praised for setting up the plant, chief lobbyist Thomas Steg said, comparing the goal of building infrastructure and boosting living conditions to Germany's reunification.
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