Letter to Vice-President of the European Parliament Edward McMillan-Scott Concerning the Participation of Volkswagen Group China in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott MEP,
Vice-President of the European Parliament
Room 14E102, European Parliament
Rue Wiertz
1047 Brussels
BELGIUM

To the Honourable Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of the European Parliament

Your Excellency,

First of all, I would like to express my sincere respect to you for your recent upright public comments on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s persecution against Falun Gong.

As the family member of a persecuted Falun Gong practitioner employed by Volkswagen in China, I am writing to you in order to ask you to pay special attention to the disgraceful behaviour of Volkswagen in participating in the CCP regime's persecution against Falun Gong, and ask you, as a politician of stature, to provide help to these persecuted people.

Located in Changchun, Jilin Province, FAW-VW was established in 1991. With an annual output capacity of 660,000 cars and 360,000 engines, it is considered to be one of the most prosperous firms in the northeast region of China. According to the company's website, "out of more than 6,000 employees, no one in FAW-VW voluntarily leaves the company." But between 1999 and 2003, at least ten employees who practise Falun Gong were dismissed for refusing to give up their belief. The ten cases are as follows:

Mr. Ren Yue-Qiang: Dismissed in the summer of 1999 for reading a Falun Gong book in his dormitory.

Ms. Deng Hong, Ms. Tian Yan and Ms. Li Hai-Feng: Made a peaceful appeal in Beijing, and told the public about the facts regarding Falun Gong at Tiananmen Square in October 2000, but were arrested and sentenced to two years of forced labour. They were dismissed by FAW-VW in December 2000.

Mr. Li Rong-Ze and Ms. Li Ming-Xia: For making an appeal in Beijing and distributing information about the facts of Falun Gong to the public, they were sentenced to three years of imprisonment. They were dismissed by FAW-VW in December 2000.

Mr. Jiang Wan-Chen: Arrested for giving out information about the facts of Falun Gong to the public and sentenced to one year of forced labour; dismissed by FAW-VW.

Mr. Wang Yong-Qing: Arrested for giving out information about the facts of Falun Gong to the public in the autumn of 2001; he was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment and dismissed by FAW-VW.

Mr. Wang Jian and Mr. Jiang Long-Sheng: In March 2002, they were arrested at work and on the way back home from work, respectively. They were sentenced to three years of imprisonment and one and half years of forced labour, respectively. They were then dismissed whereupon by FAW-VW.

FAW-VW has consistently denied the fact that the dismissals of the aforementioned employees were an immediate consequence of their practising Falun Gong. They only told the families about dismissal decisions verbally and took precautions to do nothing in written form. They deliberately shirked their responsibility on those decisions.

On December 19th, 2003 and January 27th, 2004, The Epoch Times reported on Shanghai Volkswagen's illegal treatment of job seekers in China. According to the article, the company refused to consider hiring job seekers if they were unwilling to sign a statement promising not to practise or support Falun Gong.

Unfortunately, Volkswagen headquarters in Germany either have heard nothing of these scandals at the Volkswagen company in China or have kept silent deliberately. China is already Volkswagen's second largest market outside of Germany. Volkswagen's presence in China has grown steadily and it is predicted that 2007 sales in China will reach one million cars. The benefits for China letting in investment from Germany and other western nations, at the cost of sacrificing natural resources and providing cheap labour, were not only limited to bringing technology that would create social wealth for Chinese people, but more importantly, accelerating the Chinese democratisation advancement and giving Chinese society a window to values the rest of the world holds dear, such as human rights. As the largest car manufacturer in Europe, Volkswagen should take on the moral responsibility of promoting universal values instead of bending to pressure from the Chinese authorities.

During World War II, Volkswagen's production was switched to armaments. About 20,000 forced labourers, prisoners of war, and later, concentration camp prisoners, worked at the plants. In September 1998, in recognition of the above mentioned behaviours at that time, Volkswagen AG established a humanitarian fund on behalf of the labourers forced to work at Volkswagen during World War II. Furthermore, a memorial in remembrance of these forced labourers is currently being established in Wolfsburg, with contributions from present-day Volkswagen employees. It is a part of a sentiment often expressed among western nations following atrocities committed during World War II came to light: "Never Again," meaning that a state-sponsored genocide like the one committed against Jews should never be repeated. Sadly enough, we are witnessing similar things happening in China today.

Your Excellency, as the first Western politician of stature to have met with persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China and publicly exposed the persecution against them, your visit to China and your ensuing actions give the Chinese people hope for change in the foreseeable future. You spoke frankly to the international community about what you saw and commented in a straightforward manner on the inhumane, irrational, and monstrous nature of the CCP's tyranny, leaving no room for other officials to remain silent and for the giant corporations reaping benefits to pretend ignorance. It is also very important to let every European citizen know what kind of detestable things are happening in an influential European enterprise like Volkswagen in China.

By reason of your prominent position and your Honourable character, I ask you, for the sake of humanity and conscience, to pay attention to the facts of severe human rights abuses taking place in European companies in China. I hope you can:

1. Urge the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel to immediately stop Volkswagen China from participating in any form of persecution against employees who practise Falun Gong.

2. Urge the CEO of Volkswagen Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder, to investigate the persecution happening in Volkswagen China, look into the current living and health conditions of those dismissed Falun Gong-practising employees, let them resume their employment and compensate them accordingly.

3. Let German citizens know what Volkswagen is doing in China.

4. Pay attention to an ongoing labour dispute lawsuit against FAW-VW brought by Ms. Li Hai-Feng.

Thank you for everything you have done for the Chinese people.

With great respect,

The family member of a persecuted employee of FAW-VW

Signature

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/6/30/131830.html