A contractor for Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD on Thursday denied claims that Chinese nationals were working in “slavery-like conditions” at a construction site at the carmaker’s factory in Brazil.
On Tuesday, a task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it had rescued 163 Chinese nationals who were working in “slavery-like” conditions at a BYD construction site in northeastern Brazil.
According to video footage released by Brazilian authorities, dormitories for construction workers had beds without mattresses and no space for their personal belongings.
Prosecutors said BYD contractor Jinjiang Group took workers’ passports and withheld 60% of their wages.
According to officials, construction workers who tried to walk off the job will have to pay for their flight and return tickets from China to Brazil with the company.
The Xinjiang group limited the slavery allegations to a translation mistake and said the claims had no basis in fact.
“Being unfairly labeled ‘slaves’ has made our workers feel that their dignity has been insulted and their human rights violated,” Jinxiang said Thursday in a post on Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging platform. , which has seriously injured the dignity of the Chinese people.” ,
Jinxiang said it had signed a joint letter with workers rejecting slavery claims.
BYD did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the Chinese Embassy in Brazil was working with Brazilian authorities to verify the claims.
At the time, BYD said it had severed ties with the contractor that hired the workers and was working with Brazilian authorities on the issue.
Li Yunfei, BYD’s general manager of branding and public relations, later reposted Jinxiang’s statement on Weibo. He criticized “foreign forces” and Chinese media outlets for waging a smear campaign against “Chinese brands and the country”.
BYD is building a Brazilian factory with plans to produce 150,000 cars annually and start production in 2024 or early 2025.
The massive factory comes as Brazil plans to raise tariffs on imported EVs from 18% to 35% in 2026.
Jinxiang said the slavery allegations arose from cultural and language misunderstandings, and claimed Brazilian officials had asked “suggestive” questions.
The contractor posted a video showing a group of Chinese workers reading the Xinjiang letter it claims they jointly signed.
An unidentified Chinese worker in the video said they were “very happy” to be working at the site and said workers were “complying with laws and regulations.”
The letter claimed that more than 100 workers had voluntarily surrendered their passports to Jinxiang for help applying for temporary IDs in Brazil – contradicting claims by Brazilian authorities that the company had taken away workers’ passports. Had taken.
with post wires
