Menu Expand

Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse

Cite JOURNAL ARTICLE

Style

Kriebitz, A., Max, R. Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse. Sozialer Fortschritt, 73(3), 221-249. https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2024.1432905
Kriebitz, Alexander and Max, Raphael "Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse" Sozialer Fortschritt 73.3, 2024, 221-249. https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2024.1432905
Kriebitz, Alexander/Max, Raphael (2024): Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse, in: Sozialer Fortschritt, vol. 73, iss. 3, 221-249, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/sfo.2024.1432905

Format

Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse

Kriebitz, Alexander | Max, Raphael

Sozialer Fortschritt, Vol. 73 (2024), Iss. 3 : pp. 221–249

Additional Information

Article Details

Pricing

Author Details

Kriebitz, Dr. Alexander, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333 Muenchen, Germany.

Max, Dr. Raphael, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333 Muenchen, Germany.

References

  1. Abrahams, C. P. (2014): Lessons from the South African experience. In Corporate accountability in the context of transitional justice, Routledge, pp. 153–173.  Google Scholar
  2. Alpermann, B. (2021): Xinjiang: China und die Uiguren, Würzburg.  Google Scholar
  3. ASPI [Australian Strategic Policy Institute] (March 1, 2020): ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang, https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale.  Google Scholar
  4. Baldwin, D. A. (2020): Economic statecraft: New edition, Princeton University Press.  Google Scholar
  5. Bao, Y. (2020): The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps: An Insider’s Perspective, China: An International Journal 18(2), pp. 161–174.  Google Scholar
  6. BBC (April 16, 2019): VW boss ‘not aware’ of China’s detention camps, https://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-47944767.  Google Scholar
  7. BBC (February, 23 2021): Canada’s parliament declares China’s treatment of Uighurs ‘genocide’, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56163220.  Google Scholar
  8. Becquelin, N. (2004): Staged development in Xinjiang, The China Quarterly 178, pp. 358–378, doi.org/10.1017/S0305741004000219.  Google Scholar
  9. Beise, M./Wittwer, J. (2021): 2030 werden Züge keine Verspätung mehr haben, Sueddeutsche Zeitung online, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/projekte/artikel/wirtschaft/siemens-chef-roland-busch-im-interview-e710528/.  Google Scholar
  10. Blanton, S. L./Blanton, R. G. (2007): What attracts foreign investors? An examination of human rights and foreign direct investment. The Journal of Politics 69(1), pp. 143–155.  Google Scholar
  11. Bloomberg (March, 28, 2022): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-28/solar-energy-boom-could-worsen-forced-labor-in-china-group-says#xj4y7vzkg.  Google Scholar
  12. Bloomberg (May 6, 2022): Adidas, Nike Web Sales Plunge in China Amid Xinjiang Boycott, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-06/adidas-nike-online-sales-plunged-in-china-amid-xinjiang-boycott.  Google Scholar
  13. Braw, E. (February 17, 2021): Why Western Companies should leave China, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/17/why-western-companies-should-leave-china/.  Google Scholar
  14. Brummer, K. (2009): Imposing sanctions: The not so ‘normative power Europe’, European Foreign Affairs Review 14(2).  Google Scholar
  15. Byler, D. (2022): In the Camps: Life in China’s High-Tech Penal Colony, Atlantic Books.  Google Scholar
  16. China Daily (April 9, 2012): Volkswagen to build NW China assembly plant, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-04/19/content_15091914.htm.  Google Scholar
  17. China Daily (July 1, 2015): Textile industry booms in Xinjiang, https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2015-07/01/content_21148741.htm.  Google Scholar
  18. Clapham, A./Jerbi, S. (2001): Categories of Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Abuses. Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 24(3), p. 339.  Google Scholar
  19. Cliff, T./James, M. (2007): Neo Oasis: The Xinjiang Bingtuan in the Twenty-first Century, Asian Studies Review 33: pp. 83–106, https://doi.org/10.1080/10357820802714807.  Google Scholar
  20. Council of Europe (May 4, 2022): Human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine, https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/secretary-general-s-report-on-the-human-rights-situation-in-crimea-committee-of-ministers-gravely-concerned.  Google Scholar
  21. D’Amato, A. (1995): Human rights as part of customary international law: A plea for change of paradigms. Ga. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 25, p. 47.  Google Scholar
  22. Davis, R. (2012): The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and conflict-affected areas: state obligations and business responsibilities. International Review of the Red Cross 94(887), pp. 961–979.  Google Scholar
  23. de Bakker, F. G. A./de Hond, F. (2010): A Disputed Contract: IHC Caland in Burma, in: Dubbink, W., van Liedekerke, L., van Luijk, H. (eds.) European Business Ethics Casebook. Issues in Business Ethics 29. Springer: Dordrecht.  Google Scholar
  24. de Jong, F. (2017): Uyghur Texts in Context: Life in Shinjang Documented from Public Spaces. Koninklijke Brill NV: Leiden, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004354029.  Google Scholar
  25. Delacote, P. (2009): On the sources of consumer boycotts ineffectiveness, Journal of Environment and Development 18(3), pp. 306–322, https://doi.org/10.1177/1070496509338849.  Google Scholar
  26. de Mooij, R./Lam, W. R./Wingender, P. (2017): Modernizing the Tax Policy Regime, in: Modernizing China: Investing in Soft Infrastructure, edited by Lam, W. R., M. Rodlauer, and A. Schipke, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.  Google Scholar
  27. den Hond, F./de Bakker, F. G. (2016): Boomerang politics: How transnational stakeholders impact multinational corporations in the context of globalization, in: A stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, Routledge, pp. 321–338.  Google Scholar
  28. Die Presse (April 25, 2018): Sind deutsche Firmen mitverantwortlich an dem Tod Tausender im Irak? https://www.diepresse.com/5412186/sind-deutsche-firmen-mitverantwortlich-an-dem-tod-tausender-im-irak.  Google Scholar
  29. Donaldson, T. (1992): The Language of International Corporate Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly 2, pp. 271–281.  Google Scholar
  30. Drezner, D. (2011): Sanctions Sometimes Smart: Targeted Sanctions in Theory and Practice, in: International Studies Review 13(1), pp. 96–108, doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2486.2010.01001.x.  Google Scholar
  31. Enderle, G. (2021): Corporate responsibility for wealth creation and human rights, Cambridge University Press.  Google Scholar
  32. European Commission (February 23, 2022): Just and sustainable economy: Commission lays down rules for companies to respect human rights and environment in global value chains, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1145.  Google Scholar
  33. Federal Foreign Office (as of October 10, 2022). Germany and China: Bilateral relations, https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen/china-node/china/228916.  Google Scholar
  34. Feng, H. (2014): 新疆少数民族族际通婚的调查与研究. The Border Economy and Culture 10, pp. 53–55.  Google Scholar
  35. Feng, E. (2018): Security spending ramped up in China’s restive Xinjiang region, ft.com/content/aa4465aa-2349-11e8-ae48-60d3531b7d11.  Google Scholar
  36. Fifield, A. (2020): China compels Uighurs to work in shoe factory that supplies Nike. Washington Post. Published online: February 29, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-compels-uighurs-to-work-in-shoe-factory-that-supplies-nike/2020/02/28/ebddf5f4-57b2-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html.  Google Scholar
  37. Firestone, T./Contini, K. (2018): The global magnitsky act, in: Criminal Law Forum 29(4), pp. 617–628, Springer Netherlands.  Google Scholar
  38. Freedom House (February 13, 2019): Joint Statement calling for Xinjiang Resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, https://freedomhouse.org/article/joint-statement-calling-xinjiang-resolution-united-nations-human-rights-council.  Google Scholar
  39. Garriga, A. C. (2016): Human Rights Regimes, Reputation, and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly 60(1), pp. 160–72.  Google Scholar
  40. Gilbert, D. U./Huber, K. (2023): Labour rights in global supply chains. Corporate Responsibility, Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming.  Google Scholar
  41. Global Times (March, 18, 2012): Whining from majority about affirmative action misplaced, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/700799.shtml.  Google Scholar
  42. Global Times (July, 13 2014): China’s cotton base, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/870332.shtml.  Google Scholar
  43. Global Times (June 12, 2016): A Call to adjust affirmative action in China’s gaokao, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/987744.shtml.  Google Scholar
  44. Global Times (January 1, 2022): Chinese netizens applaud Tesla’s store opening in Xinjiang, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202201/1245115.shtml.  Google Scholar
  45. Global Times (March 3, 2023): VW China Chief saying no evidence of forced labor in https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202303/1286576.shtml.  Google Scholar
  46. Gov.uk. (September 23, 2015): Chancellor makes historic first visit to China’s North West, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-makes-historic-first-visit-to-chinas-north-west.  Google Scholar
  47. Government of the People’s Republic of China (July 15, 2022): 习近平:共建“一带一路”,新疆不再是边远地带,而是一个枢纽地带, http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2022-07/15/content_5701067.htm.  Google Scholar
  48. Greitens, S. C./Lee, M./Yazici, E. (2019): Counterterrorism and preventive repression: China’s changing strategy in Xinjiang, International Security 44(3), pp. 9–47.  Google Scholar
  49. Grose, T. A. (2021): If you don’t know how, just learn: Chinese housing and the transformation of Uyghur domestic space, Ethnic and Racial Studies 44(11), pp. 2052–2073.  Google Scholar
  50. Handelsblatt (April 18, 2019a): VW-Chef wehrt sich gegen Vorwürfe zu Umerziehungslagern, https://www.handelsblatt.com/24234228.html.  Google Scholar
  51. Handelsblatt (October 24, 2019b): Uiguren-Provinz: Geschäfte in Xinjiang werden für deutsche Firmen immer riskanter, https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/sanktionen-gegen-china-uiguren-provinz-geschaefte-in-xinjiang-werden-fuer-deutsche-firmen-immer-riskanter/25149552.html.  Google Scholar
  52. Handelsblatt (July 15, 2021): „Lässt mich nicht kalt“: Wie deutsche Firmen in Chinas unterdrückter Provinz Xinjiang Geschäfte machen, https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/basf-vw-laesst-mich-nicht-kalt-wie-deutsche-firmen-in-chinas-unterdrueckter-provinz-xinjiang-geschaefte-machen/27421224.html.  Google Scholar
  53. Harwell, D./Dou, A. (2020): Huawei tested AI software that could recognize Uighur minorities and alert police, report says. Washington Post. Published online: December 8, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/08/huawei-tested-ai-software-that-could-recognize-uighur-minorities-alert-police-report-says/.  Google Scholar
  54. Hong, J. Y./Yang, W. (2018): Oilfields, Mosques and Violence: Is There a Resource Curse in Xinjiang? British Journal of Political Science 1–34, doi.org/10.1017/S0007123417000564.  Google Scholar
  55. House of Commons. (March 3, 2021): The Human Rights Situation of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/FAAE/report-4/page-33#_ftn123.  Google Scholar
  56. Hsieh, N. (2015). Should Business Have Human Rights Obligations? Journal of Human Rights 14(2), pp. 218–36.  Google Scholar
  57. Hua, S./Fasse, M./Hofer, J./Menzel, S. (2020): Deutsche Firmen geraten in China wegen möglicher Zwangsarbeit unter Druck. Handelsblatt Online. Published online: March 2, 2020, https://www.handelsblatt.com/25600326.html.  Google Scholar
  58. Huisman, W./van Sliedregt, E. (2010): Rogue traders: Dutch businessmen, international crimes and corporate complicity. Journal of International Criminal Justice 8(3), pp. 803–828.  Google Scholar
  59. Human Rights Watch (2021): “Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots”. China’s Crimes against Humanity Targeting Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims. Human Rights Watch. Published online: April 19, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/19/break-their-lineage-break-their-roots/chinas-crimes-against-humanity-targeting.  Google Scholar
  60. Human Rights Watch (June, 11, 2021): Germany: New Supply Chain Law a Step in the Right Direction, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/11/germany-new-supply-chain-lawstep-right-direction.  Google Scholar
  61. ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (2022 version): https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm.  Google Scholar
  62. Kelly, M. J. (2016): Prosecuting corporations for genocide. Oxford University Press.  Google Scholar
  63. Kelly, M. J./Moreno-Ocampo, L. (2016): ‘Case Studies: Corporate Complicity in Genocide’, Prosecuting Corporations for Genocide (New York, 2016; online edn, Oxford Academic, 24 Mar. 2016).  Google Scholar
  64. Kiel Institute of the World Economy (February, 21 2022): China Business Could Become a Problem for German Companies, https://www.ifw-kiel.de/publications/media-information/2022/china-business-could-become-a-problem-for-german-companies/?cookieLevel=not-set.  Google Scholar
  65. Koos, S. (2022): The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act 2021 and Its Impact on Globally Operating German Companies. In 2nd Riau Annual Meeting on Law and Social Sciences (RAMLAS 2021), Atlantis Press, pp. 111–115.  Google Scholar
  66. KPMG. (2015): People’s Republic of China Tax Profile, https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2015/11/china-2015.pdf.  Google Scholar
  67. Kriebitz, A. (2022): Western Sanctions on Xinjiang: An Impact Assessment. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 23(2), pp. 238–245.  Google Scholar
  68. Kriebitz, A./Max, R. (2020): The Xinjiang case and its implications from a business ethics perspective, Human Rights Review 21, pp. 243–265.  Google Scholar
  69. Kucera, D. (2002): Core labour standards and foreign direct investment, Int’l Lab. Rev., 141, 31.  Google Scholar
  70. Lai, H. H. (2002): China’s western development program: Its rationale, implementation, and prospects. Modern China 28(4), pp. 432–466.  Google Scholar
  71. Leibold, J. (2020): Surveillance in China’s Xinjiang region: Ethnic sorting, coercion, and inducement. Journal of Contemporary China 29(121), pp. 46–60.  Google Scholar
  72. Mackerras, C. (2001): Xinjiang at the turn of the century: The causes of separatism. Central Asian Survey 20(3), pp. 289–303.  Google Scholar
  73. Mangaliso, M. P. (1997): South Africa: corporate social responsibility and the Sullivan principles. Journal of Black Studies 28(2), pp. 219–238.  Google Scholar
  74. Mantouvalou, V. (2018): The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 Three Years On. In: The Modern Law Review 81, pp. 1017–1045, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12377.  Google Scholar
  75. McMillen, D. H. (1981): Xinjiang and the Production and Construction Corps: A Han organisation in a non-Han region. The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 6, pp. 65–96.  Google Scholar
  76. Mei, X. (March 26, 2021): China has to defend Xinjiang cotton, China Daily, https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/26/WS605d720fa31024ad0bab1d7a.html.  Google Scholar
  77. Menzel, S. (2022): IG Metall fordert Rückzug von VW aus Uiguren-Region Xinjiang, Handelsblatt Online, Published online: June 17, 2022, https://www.handelsblatt.com/28432768.html.  Google Scholar
  78. MOFCOM [Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China] (2019): Doing Business In XPCC, http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aroundchina/xinjiangbingtuan.shtml.  Google Scholar
  79. Morrison, P. (1985): ‘Islam in Xinjiang.’ Religion in Communist Lands 13.3, pp. 244–249.  Google Scholar
  80. Moscow Times (April 1, 2021): New Crimean Land Law Banning Foreign Ownership Comes Into Force, https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/01/new-crimean-land-law-banning-foreign-ownership-comes-into-force-a73443.  Google Scholar
  81. Murphy, L./Salcito, K./Uluyol, Y./Rabkin, M. and others (2022): Driving Force: Autonomative Supply Chains and Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region. Sheffield Hallam University/Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, https://www.shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/driving-force.  Google Scholar
  82. Nattrass, N. (1999): The Truth and Reconciliation Commission on business and apartheid: a critical evaluation. African Affairs 98(392), pp. 373–391.  Google Scholar
  83. Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy (2021): The Uyghur Genocide: An Examination of China’s Breaches of the 1948 Convention, https://newlinesinstitute.org/uyghurs/the-uyghur-genocide-an-examination-of-chinas-breaches-of-the-1948-genocide-convention/.  Google Scholar
  84. OECD (2020): Country Profile Germany, https://oec.world/en/profile/country/deu.  Google Scholar
  85. OHCHR [United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] (August 31, 2022): Assessment of Human Rights Concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China.  Google Scholar
  86. OHCHR [United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights] (Mai 10, 2021): Answer of Siemens to inquiry AL OTH 151/2021, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=36210.  Google Scholar
  87. OHCHR (2004): Understanding the Global Compact Human Rights Principles, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Embeddingen.pdf.  Google Scholar
  88. Payne, L. A./Pereira, G. (2016): Corporate complicity in international human rights violations, Annual Review of Law and Social Science 12, pp. 63–84.  Google Scholar
  89. Peksen, D. (2009): Better or worse? The effect of economic sanctions on human rights, Journal of Peace Research 46(1), pp. 59–77.  Google Scholar
  90. Peksen, D. (2021): Economic sanctions and political stability and violence in target countries, in: Research Handbook on Economic Sanctions, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 187–201.  Google Scholar
  91. Radio Free Asia (February, 16, 2017): For Xinjiang’s Uyghurs, ‘Hashar’ by Any Other Name Still Means Forced Labor, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/for-xinjiangs-uyghurs-hashar-02162017112652.html.  Google Scholar
  92. Radio Free Asia. (February, 20 2018): Xinjiang University President Purged Under ‘Two-Faced’ Officials Campaign, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/university-president-02202018173959.html.  Google Scholar
  93. Ramasastry, A. (2015): Corporate social responsibility versus business and human rights: Bridging the gap between responsibility and accountability, Journal of Human Rights 14(2), pp. 237–259.  Google Scholar
  94. Reuters (August, 24 2017): Exclusive: In China, the Party’s push for influence inside foreign firms stirs fears, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-congress-companies-idUSKCN1B40JU.  Google Scholar
  95. Reuters (February, 25 2021): Dutch parliament: China’s treatment of Uighurs is genocide, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-china-uighurs-idUSKBN2AP2CI.  Google Scholar
  96. Reuters (October 14, 2022): German Business Chiefs Clash with Berlin over China Policies. https://www.reuters.com/business/german-business-chiefs-clash-with-berlin-over-china-policies-2022-10-13/.  Google Scholar
  97. Roberts, S. R. (2020): The war on the Uyghurs: China’s internal campaign against a Muslim Minority 78, Princeton University Press.  Google Scholar
  98. Ruggie, J. G. (2007): Business and human rights: the evolving international agenda, American Journal of International Law 101(4), pp. 819–840.  Google Scholar
  99. Ruys, T. (2017): Reflections on the Global Magnitsky Act and the use of targeted sanctions in the fight against grand corruption, Rev. BDI 50, 492.  Google Scholar
  100. Santoro, M. A. (2000): Profits and Principles: Global Capitalism and Human Rights in China, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.  Google Scholar
  101. Santoro, M. A./Shanklin, R. (2021): A China business primer: ethics, culture, and relationships, Routledge.  Google Scholar
  102. Sethi, S. P./Williams, O. (2002): Creating and Implementing Global Codes of Conduct: An Assessment of the Sullivan Principles as a Role Model for Developing International Codes of Conduct – Lessons Learned and Unlearned, Business and Society Review 105(2), pp. 169–200.  Google Scholar
  103. SMA Solar Technology AG (2022): Modern Slavery Statement 2021, https://files.sma.de/assets/279339.pdf.  Google Scholar
  104. Smith Finley, J. (2019): Securitization, insecurity and conflict in contemporary Xinjiang: has PRC counter-terrorism evolved into state terror? Central Asian Survey 38(1), pp. 1–26.  Google Scholar
  105. Smith Finley, J. (2021): Why scholars and activists increasingly fear a Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, Journal of Genocide Research 23(3), pp. 348–370.  Google Scholar
  106. Spiegel (November 1, 2022): German Companies Ignore Major Risks in China, https://www.spiegel.de/international/business/business-as-usual-german-companies-ignore-major-risks-in-china-a-27b66d20-f228-47d0-b2bf-95f3cc976e6c.  Google Scholar
  107. Stewart, J. B. (2011): Amandla! The Sullivan Principles and the battle to end apartheid in South Africa, 1975–1987, The Journal of African American History 96(1), pp. 62–89.  Google Scholar
  108. Tatje, C. (September 9, 2020): Kaeser mahnt China. Der Chef von Siemens kritisiert Pekings Umgang mit Hongkong und den Uiguren, ZEIT ONLINE, https://www.zeit.de/2020/38/siemens-chef-joe-kaeser-china-hongkong-uiguren-kritik.  Google Scholar
  109. The Guardian (May 30, 2021): VW’s dilemma in Xinjiang shows how the west is headed for an ethical car crash, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/28/ vw-dilemma-xinjiang-west-ethical-car-crash.  Google Scholar
  110. The Guardian (April 22, 2021): UK MPs declare China is committing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/22/uk-mps-declare-china-is-committing-genocide-against-uyghurs-in-xinjiang.  Google Scholar
  111. The Guardian (May 5, 2022): Xinjiang cotton found in Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss tops, researchers say, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/xinjiang-cotton-found-adidas-puma-hugo-boss-tops-researchers-claim-uyghur.  Google Scholar
  112. The New York Times (January 31, 2008): China using more street-by-street surveillance technology, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31iht-security.1.9638901.html.  Google Scholar
  113. The Spectator (July 17, 2021): The US tech companies behind China’s mass surveillance, https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-us-tech-companies-behind-china-s-mass-surveillance/.  Google Scholar
  114. Tournaye, C. (2003): Genocidal Intent before the ICTY, International & Comparative Law Quarterly 52(2), pp. 447–462.  Google Scholar
  115. Tovy, J. (2020): Don’t buy Volkswagen! The Herut Movement and the question of Israel-Germany relations 1951–1965, Holocaust Studies 26(3), pp. 283–305.  Google Scholar
  116. UN Global Compact (2022): The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles/principle-2.  Google Scholar
  117. UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights [UN GPs] (2011): Available online, https://doi.org/10.18356/9ceabfd3-en.  Google Scholar
  118. US Customs and Border Control. (October 25, 2022): Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA.  Google Scholar
  119. Utlu, D./Niebank, J.-C. (2017): Calculated Risk. Economic versus Human Rights Requirements of Corporate Risk Assessments, Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte, https://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/publikationen/detail/calculated-risk [13.06.23].  Google Scholar
  120. van der Have, N. (2020): The proposed EU human rights sanctions regime: a first appreciation, Security and Human Rights 30(1–4), pp. 56–71.  Google Scholar
  121. Voegtlin, C./Pless, N. M. (2014): Global governance: CSR and the role of the UN Global Compact, Journal of Business Ethics 122, pp. 179–191.  Google Scholar
  122. Volkswagen AG (2022): Urumqi, https://www.volkswagenag.com/de/maps/as/cn/Urumqi.html.  Google Scholar
  123. Wettstein, F. (2010): The duty to protect: Corporate complicity, political responsibility, and human rights advocacy, Journal of Business Ethics 96(1), pp. 33–47.  Google Scholar
  124. Wettstein, F. (2012): Silence as complicity: Elements of a corporate duty to speak out against the violation of human rights, Business Ethics Quarterly 22(1), pp. 37–61.  Google Scholar
  125. Wettstein, F. (2015): Normativity, Ethics, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: A Critical Assessment, Journal of Human Rights 2(14), pp. 162–182.  Google Scholar
  126. White, J. (2004): Globalization, Divestment and Human Rights in Burma, Journal of Corporate Citizenship 14, pp. 47–65.  Google Scholar
  127. Winter, T. (2016): One belt, one road, one heritage: Cultural diplomacy and the Silk Road. The Diplomat 29, pp. 1–5.  Google Scholar
  128. Wissenschaftlicher Dienst des Bundestages [Scientific Service of the German Federal Diet] (2021): Die Uiguren in Xinjiang im Lichte der Völkermordkonvention. Zum Tatbestand des Völkermordes, zu den rechtlichen Implicationen für deutsche Unternehmen und den Reaktionsmöglichkeiten der Staatengemeinschaft, WD 2 – 3000 – 027/21.  Google Scholar
  129. Wittig, P. (2018): Wirtschaftsvölkerstrafrecht. Grundlagen der völkerstrafrechtlichen Verantwortlichkeit von Unternehmen, Berlin.  Google Scholar
  130. Wu/Li/Wang (2018): 国有企业意识形态领域 “去极端化”工作的探索与实践, http://bpmti.cnpc.com.cn/bpmti/gdlb/202011/42586f08d4494a21a3a58b897ea72d7d/files/9f6e8fa22964432db9986ed2ea32d979.pdf.  Google Scholar
  131. Xu, V. X./Cave, D./Leibold, J./Munro, K./Ruser, N. (2020): Case study 1: Uyghur workers making Nike sneakers in Qingdao. In Uyghurs for sale: ‘Re-education’, forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang, pp. 08–11, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep23090.7.  Google Scholar
  132. Zenz, A. (2019): Beyond the Camps: Beijing’s Long-Term Scheme of Coercive Labor, Poverty Alleviation and Social Control in Xinjiang, Journal of Political Risk 7(12).  Google Scholar
  133. Zenz, A. (2021): ‘End the dominance of the Uyghur ethnic group’: an analysis of Beijing’s population optimization strategy in southern Xinjiang, Central Asian Survey 40(3), pp. 291–312.  Google Scholar
  134. Zenz, A. (2022): The Xinjiang Police Files: Re-Education Camp Security and Political Paranoia in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, The Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies 3, pp. 1–56, https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2022.3.zenz.  Google Scholar
  135. Zenz, A./Leibold, J. (2020): Securitizing Xinjiang: police recruitment, informal policing and ethnic minority co-optation, The China Quarterly 242, pp. 324–348.  Google Scholar
  136. Zhang, Y./Jia, D. (2018): Surprise Default in Xinjiang Raises New Debt Fears. Caixin Global, caixinglobal.com/2018-08-15/surprise-default-in-xinjiang-raises-new-debt-fears-101315011.html [27.03.2020].  Google Scholar

Abstract

Zusammenfassung: Die Beteiligung von Unternehmen an Menschenrechtsverletzungen und deutsche Unternehmen in Xinjiang: Ein Argument für die Einführung von „struktureller Komplizenschaft“ in den Diskurs über Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte

Die Eskalation der Menschenrechtssituation im Uigurischen Autonomen Gebiet Xinjiang seit 2017 hat erhebliche Auswirkungen auf in der Region tätige multinationale Unternehmen. Insbesondere deutschen Unternehmen wird vorgeworfen, durch ihre Präsenz in Xinjiang an Menschenrechtsverletzungen der chinesischen Regierung, die gegen ethnische Minderheiten gerichtet sind, mitzuwirken. Um ein konkreteres Bild der Rolle von deutschen Unternehmen in der Region zu ermöglichen, beleuchtet der Artikel, in welcher Weise deutsche Unternehmen zu negativen Menschenrechtsauswirkungen in der Region beitragen. Basierend auf den einschlägigen normativen Rahmenwerken zu Wirtschaft und Menschenrechten geht der Artikel auf die normative Dimension der Fortsetzung von Geschäftstätigkeiten in Konfliktregionen ein und analysiert warum bestehende Rahmenwerke nicht erfolgreich darin waren, Unternehmen von Geschäftsbeziehungen mit Xinjiang abzuhalten. Die Autoren kommen zu dem Schluss, dass bisherige Rahmenwerke die Rolle von politischen Ökonomien und Machtstrukturen, die Menschenrechtsverletzungen begehen, nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt haben. Als Konsequenz wird im Artikel das Konzept der strukturellen Beihilfe diskutiert, welches auf Situationen wie Xinjiang Anwendung finden könnte.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Alexander Kriebitz / Raphael Max: Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse 221
Abstract 221
Zusammenfassung: Die Beteiligung von Unternehmen an Menschenrechtsverletzungen und deutsche Unternehmen in Xinjiang: Ein Argument für die Einführung von „struktureller Komplizenschaft“ in den Diskurs über Wirtschaft und Menschenrechte 221
1. Introduction 222
2. Corporate Human Rights Responsibilities in Conflict Regions 223
2.1 The UN Global Compact and Complicity in Human Rights Violations 224
2.2 The Application of the UN Guiding Principles to Conflict Regions 225
2.3 Instruments to Deter Corporate Involvement in Conflict Regions 225
3. Case Study: Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang 227
3.1 Recent Human Rights Violations as Part of a Structural Problem 227
3.2 Involvement of German Companies in Crimes Perpetrated Against Uyghurs 229
4. The Relevance of Defining and Preventing ‘Structural Complicity’ in Conflict Regions 235
4.1 Defining ‘Structural Complicity’ in Human Rights Violations: 236
4.2 Preventing Structural Complicity in Conflict Regions 238
5. Conclusion 240
Bibliography 241