Volkswagen’s annual shareholder meeting was briefly disrupted Wednesday by protests over the company’s factory in China’s Xinjiang province, with a shouting, topless activist interrupting the speech by CEO Oliver Blume before she was hustled away by security personnel.
Additionally a cake-like object was thrown during a speech by board chairman Hans-Dieter Poetsch, apparently in the direction of board member Wolfgang Porsche, who represents his family’s shareholding in the company, the dpa agency reported.
Photos showed a white, gooey substance resembling pastry stuck to the front of the podium behind which Porsche was sitting.
A topless activist is escorted away at Volkswagen’s annual meeting. AFP via Getty Images
The activist was protesting the company’s factory in China’s Xinjiang province, where the US has described China’s actions in the region as genocide.
AFP via Getty Images
Volkswagen has said that it has found no evidence of human rights violations at the Xinjiang plant. AFP via Getty Images
China has been accused of human rights abuses against the Muslim Uyghur population in the Xinjiang province. REUTERSVolkswagen has said that it has found no evidence of human rights violations at its plant in China’s western Xinjiang region.
The Chinese government has been accused of human rights abuses against the Muslim Uyghur population in the region, including forced labor in detention camps.
The US State Department has described China’s actions in the region as genocide.
Director Wolfgang Porsche looks on after a gooey substance was thrown at the front of his desk. AFP via Getty ImagesPolice also stopped an attempt by climate protesters to glue themselves to the ground on the square outside the meeting.
The shareholder meeting in Berlin resumed after a brief intermission.
