Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, has defended the car company Volkswagen against criticism of the plant in the Chinese Uighur province of Xinjiang. "Volkswagen is by no means on the road with closed eyes," said the SPD politician in an interview published on Saturday by the Reuters news agency.

"Everyone is aware that VW is under very close scrutiny." In recent years, there have been repeated reports of forced labour and re-education camps in Xinjiang province. Weil said the joint venture in the city of Urumqi was economically of secondary importance to VW.

As with many other investments in countries where human rights are threatened, the question arises: "Would it be better for those affected locally in the company if one withdrew?" said Weil, who sits on the supervisory board of VW as prime minister because of the country's participation in the group.

"I remember Nelson Mandela, who, after the end of apartheid in South Africa, thanked the Western companies that stayed despite the sanctions. That gave people courage," he added. "The discussion is not black and white, and VW is anything but naïve."

VW China board member Ralf Brandstätter stressed at the end of February that VW was in agreement with its Chinese partner SAIC "that we do not tolerate human rights violations in our plants." The Chinese leadership is accused of oppressing the Muslim minority of the Uighurs in the northwest of the country.

Beijing rejects this. The Wolfsburg-based company opened the factory in Urumqi with a capacity of 50,000 vehicles in 2012. During the corona pandemic and due to supply bottlenecks, the workforce shrank by 65 percent to just under 240 employees.