Human rights: Volkswagen urged by politicians to leave Xinjiang

Politicians from the traffic light parties have appealed to Volkswagen to withdraw from the Chinese region of Xinjiang after the chemical company BASF announced its intention to do so on Friday. "Xinjiang must become a 'no-go' as a location for economic activities for Western companies, including VW," Renata Alt (FDP), Chairwoman of the Bundestag's Human Rights Committee, told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper on Monday. Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer and the Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief Frank Schwabe (SPD) expressed similar views. The BASF Group announced on Friday that it would sell shares in the two joint ventures in Korla, China, in the center of the Xinjiang region, and also referred to recent reports of possible human rights violations. Previously, there had been allegations that employees of a BASF partner company in Xinjiang had been involved in a state campaign of control and repression against the Muslim Uyghur minority.