Major automakers may be using Chinese aluminum produced with Uyghur forced labor, rights group says
A new report says automakers including Tesla, General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota are failing to ensure they are not using forced labor as part of their China supply chains
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Automakers including Tesla, General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota are failing to ensure they are not using forced labor as part of their China supply chains, a report released Thursday by Human Rights Watch says.
The U.S.-based nonprofit linked some of the world’s largest car manufacturers to aluminum allegedly produced with forced labor by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region and other parts of the country.
China is accused of running labor transfer programs in which Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities are forced to toil in factories as part of a longstanding campaign of assimilation and mass detention.
A United Nations report in 2022 found China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrarily detained as part of measures the Chinese government said were intended to target terrorism and separatism.
