A recent report released by Human Rights Watch has highlighted concerns regarding major automakers' potential use of forced labor in their China supply chains. Companies such as Tesla, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Toyota have been linked to the use of aluminum allegedly produced with forced labor by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang region.
China has faced accusations of running labor transfer programs, where Uyghurs and Turkic minorities are forced to work in factories as part of a campaign of assimilation and mass detention. A United Nations report in 2022 found evidence suggesting that China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, with over one million Uyghurs estimated to have been arbitrarily detained. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to the report.
