Germany is working on a new Supply Chain Law that will allow for fines and even criminal prosecution of domestic companies working with China if they are proven to be involved in forced labor practices in Xinjiang. After the new law comes into effect, German companies working with China will have the responsibility to select their partners more strictly to avoid involvement in human rights violations in Xinjiang. The new law is expected to lead some German companies to withdraw their investments from China or to terminate their cooperation with the Chinese side.
The issue of human rights in Xinjiang continues to attract international attention. On Monday (17), the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag held a hearing to follow up on the issue of human rights in Xinjiang.
On the other hand, German authorities are legislating at the economic level to promote respect for human rights wherever businesses operate in the country. Since the established UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are legally unenforceable, in March this year, the German government embarked on a new Supply Chain Act that will impose fines of up to 2% of annual sales on large companies if they do not take measures involving human rights and environmental violations against their overseas suppliers.
Cheng Shiguang, a German commentator of Taiwanese descent, told the station that many large German companies see China as a huge market and turn a blind eye to human rights issues, including the Xinjiang concentration camps, and he believes that an enforceable law is really needed to regulate the behavior of companies that abandon human rights values for profit.
Cheng Shiguang said: German companies pretended not to know about the genocide committed by the Chinese government in Xinjiang, and their conscience was eaten up by dogs.
As a German citizen, we should continue to promote the concrete implementation of the Supply Chain Law,” said Cheng Shiguang, who believes that the major Western democracies are beginning to wake up to the human rights issues in China.
As citizens of a civilized society, we have been monitoring the government and companies to ensure that they do not forget universal values when doing business. Germany’s new Supply Chain Act, in fact, it is also an affirmation for all conscientious enterprises. It enables these conscientious companies to do a free competition on a level playing field. We must also put continuous pressure on the German federal government to urge that good laws have a sanctioning effect.
Dirichardt, a spokesman for the Munich-based World Vision, looks forward to further measures in the bill to stop German companies from condoning or acquiescing to the Chinese government’s genocidal behavior.
China has always used the economic market to try to kidnap the values of the European Union,” said Dirichardt. We look forward to further measures in the Supply Chain Act to urge German companies to immediately end any form of business dealings with China that condone or acquiesce to the genocide being perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uighur people, and we expect that not only German but EU companies as a whole should uphold EU values and never become accomplices of China.
Uyghurs in Germany protest against the Chinese government’s genocide against the Uyghur people in front of the German Foreign Ministry during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Germany on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Wu Yitong)
German media “Süddeutsche Zeitung” cited a report by the German Green Party, pointing out that after the “Supply Chain Act” came into force, German companies are obliged to sever business relations with Chinese suppliers if there is forced labor in the cooperation, otherwise German companies will face fines; in special cases, company employees may be subject to personal criminal liability. When the Supply Chain Law comes into force, offending German companies will be forced to terminate their operations in Xinjiang or withdraw their investments altogether, the report said.
Experts believe that the new German Supply Chain Law will force companies to take more aggressive measures on the issue of Xinjiang.
Margarete Bause, the German Green Party’s spokesman for human rights policy in the Federal Parliament, said the assessment report shows that the responsibilities of German companies active in Xinjiang will become “clearer than ever. It also sends a clear signal that turning a blind eye is no longer an option.
The Supply Chain Act assessment report cites media reports that many foreign companies, including German ones, have benefited from the exploitation of Uighurs in Xinjiang. Some German companies have factory buildings in China that were built near Xinjiang concentration camps. German companies named in the report include Adidas, Puma, BMW, Bosch, Siemens, Volkswagen, and BASF, which are accused of making various “denials or vague concessions” to allegations of human rights problems in Xinjiang.
From public sources, the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide defines “genocide” in five categories, all of which are currently met in Xinjiang. The U.S., Canadian, Dutch, and British parliaments have passed bills finding that China has committed genocide against the Uighur people.
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