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.
Volkswagen 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 U.S. State Department has described China's actions in the region as genocide.
Police 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.
CFRA’s Angelo Zino joins us to unpack Meta’s Superintelligence Labs and what it means for the future of AI, innovation, and the company’s bold new direction.
AIRO CEO Joe Burns and Executive Chairman Chirinjeev Kathuria talks the future of aerospace, drones, and urban air mobility through innovation and synergy.
NYC's mayoral race heats up with a socialist candidate aiming to make the city affordable—and rattling the financial sector. Plus: Coinbase's prospects.
A stark disagreement over regulating AI in Republicans’ tax cut and spending bill is the latest tension among conservatives about whether to let states continue to put guardrails on emerging technologies or minimize such interference.