WeRide joins Tencent Cloud to build smart driving services for overseas markets
BEIJING :Chinese self-driving startup WeRide said on Tuesday that it will partner with Tencent Cloud to promote large-scale robotaxi commercial operations and build smart driving solutions for overseas markets.
Under the deal signed on Tuesday, Tencent's cloud unit "will rely on its global cloud infrastructure and operational experience to provide WeRide with overseas localised and compliant cloud services to build an efficient and stable intelligent driving operation network," according to a company statement.
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The employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the company had delayed the payment of salaries owed for May. Retrenchment notices attributed this to the firm's "pending liquidation". They also took issue with the severance pay of two weeks' salary for every year of service completed, especially for surveyors who rely on overtime pay and allowances to supplement their basic salaries. Junior surveyors earn less than S$1,000 in basic salary a month, while more senior surveyors may earn between S$1,000 and S$1,500, two of the employees said. According to the employees, CCIC Singapore is not unionised. Individual workers have reached out to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) for assistance. CNA has contacted CCIC Singapore, its parent company CCIC, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and NTUC for comment. US SANCTIONS CCIC Singapore was set up in 1989 and has its registered address at Singapore Science Park. Its customers include Shell, BP, Total, Exxon Mobil and major Chinese petrochemical corporations, according to CCIC's website. Parent company CCIC was established in 1980 and is part of China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. The US blacklisted CCIC Singapore for helping to obscure the origins of Iranian oil, which is typically done through numerous ship-to-ship transfers, oil blending and false documentation. Sepehr Energy, which is a front company of Iran's military, "consistently relied" on CCIC Singapore for cargo inspections of oil being delivered to China, according to the US Treasury Department. In 2024, CCIC Singapore provided inspection services during a ship-to-ship transfer of about 2 million barrels of Iranian oil from a sanctioned vessel. That same year, the firm also "likely provided" falsified documents to conceal the identity of another sanctioned vessel and certify its cargo of Iranian oil as Malaysian crude. According to the US Treasury Department, Iran's illicit oil trade funds the development of ballistic missiles and drones as well as regional terrorist groups. The sanctions freeze all US-linked assets of the blacklisted companies and individuals. Any company that is at least half-owned by those sanctioned is also blocked from transactions engaging US businesses or the US financial system. ANGER AMONG EMPLOYEES Two of the affected employees denied knowledge of the activities for which the US sanctioned CCIC Singapore, saying that their departments were not involved. Both employees told CNA they only learnt their firm had been blacklisted when customers started cancelling job orders on May 13, citing the sanctions. The severity of the sanctions did not sink in at first, they said. Over time, their concern over the blacklisting morphed into anger at how the management was communicating with employees. They criticised the firm's "flip-flop" on the impact of the sanctions, and what they called a lack of responsibility and transparency from CCIC Singapore's managing director. "If you really treasure or appreciate ... our efforts (that) we have put into this company, I think probably he has to come and thank us, or say sorry, this type of unfortunate thing happened," said one of the employees. But there was no such expression of apology or regret, he said, adding that before Friday, the company also did not give affected employees any support for job placement or career guidance. "This is a foreign company. They act like high and mighty, they leave us in the lurch, just like that. And I'm very mad because the top man doesn't even see us, talk to us," said the employee. While the company's US-linked assets have been frozen, the employees questioned why its assets in Singapore, including property and equipment, could not be used to pay salaries and retrenchment benefits. They also questioned why the parent company was not helping to ensure that employees were paid. "When your children are in trouble, rightfully, the parents should rescue them, right? Why aren't the HQ rescuing us?" the employee asked. INTERNAL EMAILS The employees showed CNA their retrenchment notices as well as internal company emails, which mark a timeline of how the impact of the sanctions played out for employees. On May 14, CCIC Singapore employees received an email from a human resources (HR) officer acknowledging concerns over the sanctions. The email stated that the company's headquarters was "fully committed to supporting our operations" and it had engaged legal counsel to appeal against the sanctions. "In response to the situation, a new company - fully backed by our HQ - will be established within this month," stated the email. "All employees will be smoothly transferred to the new entity, and operations will continue as usual. There will be no disruption to your roles, responsibilities, or employment terms." However, a day later, employees received another email from the HR department asking them to "disregard" the email from the day before. It made reference to an "internal restructuring initiative" but continued to assure employees that they would receive their salaries and claims as usual. On May 16, heads of department were asked to identify key staff members in preparation for a downsizing exercise. They were also informed that CCIC Singapore was "not in a position" to pay retrenchment benefits as its bank accounts had been frozen. A week later, a company-wide email said that salaries would also be delayed due to the freezing of accounts, and that the firm's managing director was going to Beijing for "high-level discussions". Employees received their retrenchment notices on May 30. These notices stated that the company was going into liquidation and retrenchment benefits would only be fully paid after that process was complete, with an estimated date of Jun 30, 2026.
