Chinese automaker BYD slams reports of poor conditions at a factory site in Brazil

abcnews.go.com:

A spokesperson for Chinese automaker BYD has objected to reports about poor conditions at a construction site in Brazil where it is building a factory, saying the allegations were aimed at “smearing” China and Chinese brands

BANGKOK — A spokesperson for Chinese automaker BYD has objected to reports about poor conditions at a construction site in Brazil where it is building a factory, saying the allegations were aimed at “smearing” China and Chinese brands.

Earlier in the week, a task force led by Brazilian prosecutors said it had rescued 163 Chinese nationals it said were working in “slavery-like” conditions at the site. A video from the Labor Prosecutor’s Office of dorms housing the workers showed beds with no mattresses and rudimentary cooking facilities.

A BYD spokesperson, Li Yunfei, vehemently objected in a statement posted Thursday on his Weibo social media site.

“In the matter of smearing Chinese brands, smearing China, and attempting to undermine the friendship between China and Brazil, we have seen how relevant foreign forces maliciously associate and deliberately smear,” it said, also criticizing media reports about the situation.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, is one of the world’s largest producers of electric cars. The company said on Monday night that it would “immediately terminate the contract” with a contractor building the factory, the Jinjiang Group, and was “studying other appropriate measures.”

BYD said that the Jinjiang workers would be housed in nearby hotels for the time being, and would not suffer from the decision to stop work at the site. The company said that over the past few weeks it had been changing working conditions at the construction site and had told its contractors