Published: May 30th, 2022,
Last updated: May 30th, 2022
Human rights should be given „greater weight in German economic policy,“ Robert Habeck declared in a recent interview. To prove how serious he is, the German Minister of Economics wants to make an example of VW. The German automaker is to be denied investment guarantees for its plant in Urumqi, citing human rights violations in Xinjiang. „We cannot guarantee projects in the Xinjiang region in view of forced labor and mistreatment of Uyghurs,“ Habeck said. This move would be a first and would also affect other German companies such as BASF, writes Finn Mayer-Kuckuk. The Chinese, however, will not leave the push uncommented: The involvement of foreign companies in Xinjiang holds great symbolic value for Beijing.