Press Release – For Immediate Release 
19 September 2024 
Contact: World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
+49 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

On December 5, 2023, Volkswagen AG released the results of its controversial audit of its joint venture with Chinese partner SAIC in Ürümchi, East Turkistan. The audit, commissioned by the German consultancy Loening-Human Rights & Responsible Business GmbH and conducted by a Chinese law firm, claimed to have found no evidence of forced labour. However, a leaked report from September 19 reveals that the audit failed to meet international standards. Loening, which alleged the application of SA8000 auditing principles, neglected key aspects of this standard and ignored the region’s repressive political environment. The law firm, with close ties to the CCP, furthermore does not conduct social audits, therefore lacking experience and is not accredited for SA8000 audits.

Interviews at the plant were reportedly live-streamed to the headquarters of Liangma Law, the law firm that Loening ordered to conduct the audit, which failed to preserve anonymity and protect Uyghur staff from surveillance, intimidation and detention by the Chinese government. 

Despite ongoing evidence of human rights violations and Uyghur forced labour, Volkswagen continues to operate both a plant in Ürümchi and a test track in Turpan through a joint venture with the state-owned Chinese automaker SAIC. The company has long demonstrated its complicity in the Chinese government’s genocide of Uyghurs. The World Uyghur Congress, along with other organisations, has previously raised concerns over the use of audits in East Turkistan and called for Volkswagen to fully exit the region. “Credible and independent audits are not possible in a repressive environment, where millions of Uyghurs are under extensive surveillance, arbitrarily detained, and tortured for words or appearances that do not conform to Communist Party ideals. It is high time for VW to leave,” said Gheyyur Kurban, Director of German Advocacy at the WUC.

The World Uyghur Congress reiterates its call for Volkswagen to completely withdraw its presence and supply chains from East Turkistan and to close its joint venture in Ürümchi. In light of recent legislations introduced at the national and regional level, including the German Supply Chain Directive and the EU’s Forced Labour regulation, Volkswagen and its investors, particularly the German state of Lower Saxony, cannot continue to prioritise business revenues over the lives of millions of Uyghurs.