Corporate Involvement in Human Rights Abuse and German Companies in Xinjiang: A Case for Introducing ‘Structural Complicity’ in the Business Ethics and Human Rights Discourse

The escalation of human rights violations in the Xinjiang since 2017 has unfolded major repercussions for companies operating in the region. Particularly, German companies have been accused of complicity in human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese government against ethnic minorities in the region. The following article aims at substantiating the debate on corporate responsibility in this case by shedding light to the background of the human rights situation in Xinjiang and by examining channels, through which companies might create adverse impacts on human rights. Based on the review of normative frameworks on business and human rights, the article sheds light onto the normative implications of German companies continuing business operations in the region and on the question why existing frameworks on business and human rights did not prevent corporate involvement in the XUAR. The evaluation points into one specific direction, namely the need to discuss a concept of structural complicity, which accounts for the corporate involvement in larger political economies adverse to human rights.