「うそに惑わされないで」 中国が企業に呼び掛け ウイグル強制労働疑惑受け

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】独自動車大手フォルクスワーゲン（ＶＷ）はこのほど、中国北西部・新疆ウイグル自治区で同社の事業に関連し強制労働が行われていた疑惑が浮上し、同自治区での事業の将来について協議していると発表した。これを受け、中国外務省は１５日、同自治区の人権状況に関するうそに惑わされないよう呼び掛けた。（写真は資料写真）
　独経済紙ハンデルスブラットは今週、２０１９年の新疆ウイグル自治区東部トルファンでのＶＷのテストコース建設工事で、強制労働が行われていた可能性があると報じた。
　これを受けＶＷは１４日、工事に関連し人権侵害が行われた証拠は見つからなかったとしたものの、新たな情報が入り次第、調査を実施すると約束した。
　中国外務省はＡＦＰに対する書面で、人権侵害疑惑は「新疆ウイグル自治区を不安定化させるためにでっち上げられた真っ赤なうそだ」と指摘。企業に対し「事実を尊重し、善悪を見極め、うそに惑わされないよう」呼び掛けた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/02/16-17:50）

China on Thursday urged companies not to be blinded by lies about its rights record in Xinjiang, after German automaker Volkswagen said it was discussing the future of its activities in the troubled region.
Rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a crackdown against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labour and detention camps.
Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.
Germany's Handelsblatt financial daily reported this week that forced labour may have been used to build a test track for VW in Turpan, Xinjiang in 2019.
VW said Wednesday it had seen no evidence of human rights violations in connection with the project but vowed to investigate any new information that came to light.
In a statement sent to AFP, Beijing's foreign ministry said allegations of abuses in the region were entirely a lie concocted... with the aim of destabilising Xinjiang.
It urged firms to respect the facts, distinguish right from wrong, and not be blinded by lies.
In an apparent sign of the growing pressure on VW over its presence in the region, the company said this week that it was in talks with its Chinese joint-venture partner SAIC about the future direction of business activities in Xinjiang.
Various scenarios are currently being intensively examined, VW said in a statement.
Beijing said Thursday that the human rights of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are protected to the maximum extent.
Claims of rights abuses in the northwestern region, it added, were aimed at discrediting and suppressing China.
Xinjiang currently enjoys social stability, economic development, ethnic unity, and religious harmony, the foreign ministry said.
- Rights concerns -
Beijing stands accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across Xinjiang.
Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.
A UN report in 2022 detailed credible evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence -- as well as forced labour -- in the region.
But it stopped short of labelling Beijing's actions a genocide, as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done.
Calls have grown louder for VW to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemicals giant BASF announced last week that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there.
Xinjiang is home to numerous factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands.
VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi, which opened in 2013 and in which it has a stake via its partner SAIC.
An external audit commissioned by VW last year found no evidence of forced labour among the plant's 197 employees.
But the consultancy that wrote the report acknowledged the challenges in collecting data for audits in China.
The Turpan test track was not part of the audit.