As of: February 12, 2024, 2:09 p.m
By: Christiane Kühl
Comments
Press
Split
Federal politicians welcome the withdrawal of the chemical company BASF from Xinjiang.
At the same time, they are calling on Volkswagen to also turn its back on the Uighur region in northwest China.
After the chemical company BASF announced its departure from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, several federal politicians have appealed to Volkswagen to follow this example.
BASF's decision to completely withdraw from Xinjiang marks a turnaround for the company, said Renata Alt, chairwoman of the Human Rights Committee in the Bundestag.
“The international companies no longer want to become involuntary accomplices in China’s human rights violations with their presence in Xinjiang, even if it means additional costs,” said the FDP politician to
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
“It is also time for VW to withdraw from Xinjiang.
Xinjiang must finally become a ‘no-go’ for Western companies.”
The Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion and Belief, Frank Schwabe, also called on all German companies in the
Tagesspiegel
not to do any further business in Xinjiang.
“Basically, the human rights situation in Xinjiang is so catastrophic and confusing that German companies should not operate there,” said the SPD politician.
“This also applies to VW.”
BASF sells all shares in Xinjiang joint ventures
BASF announced on Friday that it would sell its own shares in the two joint ventures BASF Markor Chemical Manufacturing and Markor Meiou Chemical in the city of Korla in central Xinjiang.
The sales process was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2023.
We now want to accelerate this.
In the statement, BASF referred to media reports about the local joint venture partner Markor, which contained “serious allegations” that are “incompatible with BASF’s values.”
Markor is accused of actively participating in the surveillance of Uyghurs in the region.
According to reports from ZDF and
Spiegel,
employees of the company are said to have spied on Uighurs.
BASF has been producing the chemical butanediol (BDO) with Markor in China since 2016, a precursor for, among other things, technical plastics, polyurethane, solvents and elastic fibers.
Markor is one of the leading manufacturers on the downstream BDO market, the group announced at the opening.
BASF CEO Brudermüller in China: The almost completed Verbund site in Guangdong is the group's latest showcase project.
BASF has said goodbye to the joint venture in Xinjiang © Li Jiale/Xinhua/Imago
Xinjiang should disappear from supply chains because of the human rights situation
Even then, the situation in Xinjiang was characterized by tensions between Uighurs and the ruling Han Chinese.
But the BASF and VW plants only really came under criticism when reports about the storage system in Xinjiang emerged.
According to this, hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities were temporarily in re-education camps.
Many of them were therefore forced to do forced labor.
The situation in Xinjiang has therefore been discussed several times in the UN Human Rights Council.
The Chinese government, however, denies the allegations and describes the camps as training centers.
There are increasing efforts in the West to remove Xinjiang from global supply chains.
The USA already bans the import of products from the region – unless the importers can prove that their supply chain is free of forced labor.
As a result of the reports about Markor, 30 MPs from Europe, Canada and New Zealand, who have joined forces in the “Interparliamentary Alliance for China”, called on BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller to withdraw from Xinjiang in a letter.
BASF now emphasized in its statement that regular external and internal audits “did not reveal any evidence of human rights violations in the two joint ventures.”
In fact, the new allegations relate to Markor's activities outside of the cooperation.
But this also shows how difficult it is for a company in Xinjiang to isolate itself from the overall situation.
After a positive audit, VW wants to stay in Xinjiang for the time being
VW still wants to hold on to the factory of its joint venture with the state-owned company Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi.
In the summer, the car company commissioned a company to examine the working conditions at the plant for human rights violations.
The auditors announced in December that they could find no evidence or evidence of forced labor among employees at the plant.
Investors were initially satisfied with this.
In December, the fund company Union Investment continued to classify VW shares as “investable” for sustainable investments.
My news
Next bankruptcy in the fashion industry: shoe retailer from southern Germany is insolvent
Experts see “Germany’s days as an industrial superpower numbered” read
“Economy is collapsing”: Putin leads Russia into the Soviet trapread
1 hour ago
“We won’t get out of the crisis with this economics minister”: Family businesswoman shoots against Habecklesen
1 hour ago
German mechanical engineer relocates jobs to other European countries read
Pension, rent and climate money: This is what the traffic light coalition is planning for 2024read
At the beginning of February, Volkswagen emphasized that it was adhering closely to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including in China.
Nevertheless, the pressure is growing on the car company, which operates many locations in the People's Republic with several partners - and therefore does not urgently need the comparatively small Xinjiang plant.
The umbrella organization of critical shareholders (DKA) has also been calling on VW to move away from the location for months.
BASF cites CO2 footprint as the reason for the Xinjiang exit
BASF has now made a decision - but would like to continue all other activities in China.
And so the chemical company is faced with the challenge of pulling out without angering the Chinese government.
Beijing has always reacted extremely sensitively to corporate criticism of its Xinjiang policy.
In its announcement on the Xinjiang exit, BASF first of all referred to the high CO₂ footprint of the Korla plants.
“Coal is used there as a raw material and the production process is energy-intensive.” In view of high competitive pressure and global overcapacity, BASF wants to adapt its global BDO portfolio “in order to make competitive offers with a low CO₂ footprint.”
In fact, BASF initiated the sale months ago.
The careful choice of words shows how difficult the situation is for the company.