Thread by @WilliamYang120

In a report by @sheffhallamuni, the team found that there are still massive and expanding links between western car brands and forced labor materials from #China's #Xinjiang. I talked to @LauraTMurphy about the implication of the report's findings:dw.com/zh/%E7%A0%94%E…

The report finds that 96 mining, processing, or manufacturing companies relevant to the automotive sector operating in the Uyghur Region, including at least 38 that have documented engagement in state-sponsored labor transfer programs.

And over 40 automotive-sector manufacturers in China that are sourcing from the Uyghur Region or from companies that have accepted Uyghur labor transfers across China.

More than 50 international automotive parts or car manufacturers (or their joint ventures) that are sourcing directly from companies operating in the Uyghur Region or from companies that have accepted Uyghur labor transfers across China.

More than 100 international automotive parts or car manufacturers that have some exposure to forced Uyghur labor made goods.

Major global auto makers including Volkswagen Audi Group, Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz Group, Toyota, Tesla, Renault, NIO, and Stellantis
Group had several supply chain exposures to the Uyghur Region.

"The world’s biggest supplier of steel—Baowu—is also the largest steel producer in the Uyghur Region, prolifically employing labor transfers through state programs.

Transferred Uyghur laborers marched for hours to factories during Covid lockdowns, then quarantined on-site in sub-standard housing to keep producing steel."

I reached out to two major German car manufacturers, @VW and @MercedesBenz, and here are their responses to me: "Mercedes-Benz takes such reports very seriously. Mercedes-Benz has no direct operations in the mentioned region," @MercedesBenz said in a statement.

"Mercedes-Benz seeks to ensure that its products contain only materials that have been mined and produced without violating human rights or environmental standards. Mercedes-Benz regularly makes spot checks with its suppliers in China and other countries," the company added.

As for @VW, which has long been criticized for its physical presence in #Xinjiang, the German car manufacturer told me through a statement that "We strictly oppose any form of forced labor in all our business operations," it said.

"We found no evidence that SAIC VOLKSWAGEN Xinjiang Automotive Co. Ltd. employees are forced to work there. Employees are hired on the basis of their skills – irrespective of age, religious beliefs or ethnic origin," VW added.

"The majority of employees have been working there since the opening of the SAIC Volkswagen plant in 2013. We are not aware of any cases where employees of SAIC VOLKSWAGEN Xinjiang Automotive Co. Ltd. were or are in internment camps," VW elaborated further.

"The Volkswagen Group takes its corporate responsibility very seriously. Respect for human rights is the ethical basis of our business activities."

However, @LauraTMurphy told me that the biggest finding of this report is Uyghur forced labor is in everything.

" I think the big revelation for companies and advocates and consumers should be that the PRC government has deliberately moved an enormous amount of manufacturing to the Uyghur region," she said.

"That involves the mining and processing of raw materials, the manufacture of all kinds of parts for many kinds of industries as well as a real focus on the renewable energy sector."

"This puts all of us at risk and our supply chains at risk for practically anything. We need to start thinking what are the priorities of the PRC government, how can we look at the priorities for the Uyghur region ...

... and how can we look at those priorities to see where our risks might be and start doing real due diligence to ensure we are not importing things made of Uyghur forced labor," Dr. Murphy added.

According to her, the auto industry has been put on notice for years that the PRC has instituted this forced labor program in the Uyghur region and that many products are at risk.

"Yet, we don’t see them taking a stand or they are coming forward and say “ok, we are doing our due diligence,'" she said.

"If they are doing those things quietly, we don’t know about it, but the fact that we were able to find so much exposure for so many car companies it really does give us pause."

"It seems even many of their first-tier suppliers have used Uyghur labor transfers. We just don’t think companies have been doing enough and they haven’t realized enough what their exposure might be," said @LauraTMurphy.

"These are places where companies could really collectively put pressure and say 'we no longer want these products mined and processed in the Uyghur region,'" she added.

Since many companies won't do due diligence voluntarily, Murphy said governments should mandate companies trace their supply chains down to the raw materials and there are real consequences if companies are found to be using Uyghur forced labor...

... and don’t know and haven’t done anything to try to take that out of their supply chains.

"This is going to be a test for the new German due diligence law because Germany is such a manufacturing hub for automotive, ...

... and the German car manufacturers are going to have to face a lot of scrutiny at this point to identify whether they are doing what they are required to do now by law, to ensure that their supply chains are free of forced labor," she said.

Murphy said other governments should align their legislation with that of the United States. "It’s unusual for us to see the US as a leading regulator of corporate behavior. But in this case, we’ve had the import bans on goods of forced labor since 1930 in the US," she said.

"It’s surprising to me that European countries and other nations around the world simply don’t have a similar law.

That’s changing but it needs to change more rapidly and we have more of an enforcement mechanism to ensure that companies do abide by them and don’t just shrug it off."

"Consumers shouldn’t be put in the position where they have to trace their own supply chains. It’s not possible. Governments are there to protect us from these kinds of egregious violations of human rights, so that we are not inadvertently supporting them and financing them."

Link to the original report: shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy…