50 countries urge China to implement UN recommendations regarding violations against Uyghurs
FOX NewsSep 09, 2022
German Chemical Firm BASF Quits Chinese Joint Ventures
story
Image copyright: Sean Gallup/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
German chemical company BASF announced on Friday the divesting of two joint ventures in China, BASF Markor Chemical Manufacturing and Markor Meiou Chemical (Xinjiang) Co., stating that the market for chemicals made at the production sites was oversupplied.
This comes after German news outlets ZDF and Der Spiegel claimed that employees at its local partner Markor had joined Chinese officials on visits to repress ethnic Uyghurs in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The Spin
Anti-China narrative
China's repression of Xinjiang's Uyghur Muslims is well-known and documented. The reports of Xinjiang Markor's menacing invasive "home visits" merely reiterates a long history. As a responsible company, BASF cannot hide away from its duties, and its decision to quit its joint ventures in the region is a welcome step toward ensuring that the lure of profits doesn't overshadow the need to respect basic civil liberties.
Pro-China narrative
The hounding of BASF in the name of supposed human rights abuse may have forced it to take the drastic decision of quitting its joint ventures in the stable and prospering Xinjiang, but its overall commitment to China remains firm. Beijing will not allow this unfortunate development to affect its Xinjiang policy. Neither will it allow outsiders to succeed in their smear campaign against the nation.
