Volkswagen’s audit washing in Xinjiang

By Rushan Abbas and Adrian Zenz

Adrian Zenz is a Senior Fellow and Director for China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington. Rushan Abbas is a Uyghur-American human rights activist and founder of the Campaign for Uyghurs.

In light of new evidence of forced labor at a subsidiary of VW’s joint venture in Xinjiang, a critical examination reveals that the audit report should never have claimed to provide an honest assessment of the situation.

In December 2023, Volkswagen published an audit of its much-criticized joint venture factory in Xinjiang. The region operates the largest system of state-imposed forced labor in the world today. Unsurprisingly, the report claimed to absolve the firm from exposure to forced labor.

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