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Parts of Your Car Are From Slave Labor in China, Says New York Times

The global supply chain for production extends further than many people realize. Some describe the cars as “American-made.” However, in reality, the components and raw materials for most vehicles come from hundreds of global suppliers. Unfortunately, due to the opacity and vastness of the global supply chain, parts for the cars come from nefarious sources. Xinjiang, China.The New York Times detailed this link after a report from the experts.

The global auto supply chain is linked to human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China

A car factory in Xinjiang, China | Xinhua/Wang Fei via Getty Images

The cited report was conducted by a team of human rights experts in England. Murphy, professor of contemporary slavery and human rights, led the project.

It details many of these human rights violations. The New York Times also covered the leaked “Xinjiang Papers”. The “Xinjiang Papers” are 400 pages of internal documents leaked from Chinese government authorities showing the systematic detention of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

Dr. Murphy and other researchers covered the links of Chinese companies with strong ties to the Xinjiang region — and the global automakers that use its supplies. This includes metals, wheels, wires, electronics, motor castings, and batteries—plus the raw materials needed to make them. As Dr. Murphy points out, forced labor has played a role in all vehicle parts sold in the past five years.

“There was no part of the car we looked at that was not contaminated with forced Uyghur labor. It is an industry-wide problem. If you bought a car in the past five years, it is likely that some of its parts were made by Uyghurs, and others were forced labor in China.”

Dr. Laura T. Murphy is Professor of Contemporary Slavery and Human Rights at Sheffield Hallam University

Toyota, Ford, Honda, VW, Tesla and other brands likely to use auto parts from forced Uyghur labor

An assembly line in Xinjiang, highlighting how auto parts are out of forced labor in China, reports The New York Times
A car factory in Xinjiang, China | Xinhua/Wang Fei via Getty Images

The report and The New York Times detail the actions of 200 major Chinese companies linked to the human rights problem. They participated in forced labor programs in Xinjiang – or obtained their materials and products from the region. The companies mentioned in the report play an important role in the global auto parts supply chain.

Because of this global auto supply chain connection, it is very likely that all major auto makers use auto parts from forced Uyghur labor. This includes brands such as Honda, Ford, Honda, GM, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla. Whether it be raw materials or vehicle components, slave labor was likely involved in the production of vehicles for automakers.

The recently passed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Law aims to address the problem

The recently passed law aims to limit slave labor in China. The new law states that “goods made from forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market, and for other purposes.”

With the passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Law, automakers are now in the crossfire. They are under pressure to take concrete steps to address the problem – or face the consequences. Since some aspects of the law went into effect last June, US Customs has stopped more than 2,200 shipments suspected of containing content from Xinjiang — worth more than $728 million.

However, with the complexity and breadth of the global auto supply chain, fully applying the law to address the human rights issue is a great challenge. The New York Times reports that automakers “have ties with as many as 18,000 suppliers in the entire supply chain, from raw materials to components.”

The problem is exacerbated by the lack of transparency and complexity of supply chains. It is difficult to track whether the products or materials are from Xinjiang – or another part of the country.

Tibet, another source of raw materials used in the automotive industry, also suffers from severe human rights violations

However, human rights violations are not only in Xinjiang. Tibet, with its vast mineral wealth, is another source of raw materials for automobile production. China famously invaded the peaceful Buddhist country in 1950. This resulted in the death of more than 1 million Tibetans – 20% of the population at the time. China also destroyed aspects of Tibetan culture. This includes destroying most of the 6000+ Buddhist temples in the country.

Human rights abuses in Tibet continue, as detailed in . The Chinese government suppresses religion – and bans the Tibetan language in schools. Tibetans who speak out are tortured and sent to re-education camps. Also, simply possessing a picture of the Dalai Lama – the spiritual leader of Tibet and a Nobel Peace Prize winner – is a criminal offense, which leads to a stay in prison. Moreover, there are many incidents of Buddhist monks resorting to protesting these human rights violations.

Unfortunately, I have seen human rights abuses firsthand. I visited China and Tibet for the first time in 20 years – and witnessed the heavy Chinese military presence and the marks of artillery shells on destroyed Buddhist temples. Also, a nice Tibetan guy I’m befriending has a disfigured arm because the Chinese Red Guards threw it into a fire. They set fire to his family’s house, killing his mother and father.

I’ve also done volunteer work with Tibetan refugees – with orphaned refugee children in India and helped exiled Tibetan residents near my home in America – and heard many tragic stories of human rights abuses.

Unfortunately, human rights abuses have worsened in recent years, particularly under the authoritarian leadership of Xi Jinping, Chairman and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. And like Xinjiang, people who are abused in Tibet are connected to the global auto supply chain.

Is economic detachment from China the answer to stopping forced labor in auto parts and other human rights abuses?

With such gross violations of human rights, some have suggested from China. It should be noted that the United States has taken a tougher stance towards other human rights abusers. This includes Russia invading Ukraine. The excesses in Russia are tragic and have caused great human losses. As a result, the United States and most countries of the world imposed heavy sanctions on Russia.

However, human rights abuses since the Communist Party came to power in China far exceed anything in recent history. Bear The, Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Communist Party of China, is the greatest mass murderer of all time. It is responsible for the deaths of up to 45 million people. The Communist Party itself remains in power – and continues its human rights abuses.

However, instead of economically decoupling automakers and other companies from China, as they did in Russia, they are expanding into the country. China is one of the largest producers and consumers of automobiles. Companies that effectively capitalize on this huge market can make an abundance of money – from both the supply and demand sides.

Also, economic decoupling from China is likely to sour the economy – at least in the short term. The global supply chain between the US and China is deeply intertwined, so decoupling cannot be done overnight.

Lawmakers are talking boldly about cracking down on China. However, it is doubtful that many would be willing to put up with the pressure from the local constituents taking a financial hit as a result of these actions. However, China is one of the few issues in America where there is bipartisan agreement.

Revocation of China’s most-favoured-nation trading status

The most realistic way is to take a gradual, long-term approach. Over the next decade, the United States could gradually separate economically from China in the auto industry and other sectors. could be the answer. As detailed before, doing so could “create an industrial renaissance and millions of jobs”. Either bring industries back to the United States – or source materials and products from countries with better human rights records.

The first step would be to revoke China’s Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status, which the US made permanent in 2001. The US took this action by revoking Russia’s most favored nation (MFN) status following its invasion.

The original motivation behind granting MFN status to trade was that by increasing China’s integration into the global financial system, it would reduce its human rights abuses. However, it had the opposite effect. Granting MFN status has turned out to be a disaster. It enabled China to become a major economic power – and it committed human rights abuses with impunity – including forced labour.

As a result, abuses continued in Xinjiang and Tibet. The cars people drive are tainted by these abuses – as detailed in The New York Times and Human Rights Report.

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