Major funds exposed to companies allegedly engaged in Uyghur repression in China

The Chinese government denies claims from the UN that Uyghur Muslims have been held in detention facilities in Xinjiang. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/AP

Many of the world’s largest asset managers and state pension funds are passively investing in companies that have allegedly engaged in the repression of Uyghur Muslims in China, according to a new report.

The report, by UK-based group Hong Kong Watch and the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, found that three major stock indexes provided by MSCI include at least 13 companies that have allegedly used forced labour or been involved in the construction of the surveillance state in China’s Xinjiang region.