Apple Implicated in New Report on Chinese Forced Labor

[MacRumors]

A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank has named Apple among 83 other major companies benefiting from the use of potentially abusive labor transfer programs.

The Chinese government has allegedly transferred thousands of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities from Xinjiang to factories across the country, implicating global supply chains.

The report estimates that at least 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, some of whom were sent directly from "detention camps".

Transferred workers typically undergo organized Mandarin and ideological training outside working hours, are subject to constant surveillance and are forbidden from participating in religious observances. The Washington Post has corroborated the report's claims.

China has attracted international condemnation for its network of extrajudicial "re-education" internment camps in Xinjiang.

The report identifies four Chinese factories in Apple's supply chain which use Uyghur labor to make parts for Apple and its suppliers.

O-Film Technology Co., which supplied camera modules for iPhone 8 and iPhone X, and BOE Technology Group, a company set to become Apple's second-largest OLED screen supplier by 2021, both reportedly use Uyghur labor, either directly or through contractors. AirPods supplier GoerTek is also listed.

As many as 560 Xinjiang workers were transferred to factories in central Henan province, including to Foxconn Technology's Zhengzhou facility, which reportedly makes half of the world's iPhones.

Over the past decade, Foxconn has been marred by allegations of worker exploitation and even suicides, including recently at its Zhengzhou facility.

In 2019, Apple released a supplier responsibility progress report, stating that "we hold ourselves and our suppliers to the highest standards to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect".

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Implicated in New Report on Chinese Forced Labor

 

[baryon]

I feel that this whole "get everything made cheap in China in massive quantities" thing is just the current terrible phase in Human history and just like it happened with slavery in America or the Holocaust, it has to end. This is neither sustainable nor good, and we have to stop turning a blind eye to it. China is revealing itself to be incredibly evil and our dependence on them makes us just as bad. Either the Western world will come to depend on China more and more, and will continue support and facilitate the abuse of human rights there, or they will withdraw and have to rethink their manufacturing chain. Even if companies like Apple start to enforce the respect of human rights, we are still continuing to empower a communist dictatorship by giving them our money and by being dependent on their skill and manufacturing infrastructure. Once China has enough power they can do whatever they want (or maybe it's already the case now).


Either way, there are going to be tensions with such a huge and powerful country. If bad stuff does happen, China and the US/EU will be against each other in a new world war, and it won't be pretty. And people will say "how did we not see this coming?". We saw it coming, but as usual, we just didn't do anything.

 

[eroslws]

Apple is selfish with respect to ideals. Until their CEO is Muslim, they won’t do anything about it. Now if this was gay labor, there would be an immediate ban on these suppliers.

 

[fenderbass146]

Good job calling them out Ricky Gervais

 

[Rogifan]

This is pretty weak. So it’s some suppliers in Apple’s supply chain that are allegedly using this labor but we don’t know what specific Apple products or components (if any) this labor is involved in. And we have no idea for how long or what steps Apple has taken. Supply chains are incredibly complex. To suggest that every company is responsible for the conduct of every supplier they engage with is nuts. Seems to me Apple is one if the better corporations in this regard with their supplier responsibility report and actions they have taken in the past (and will take in the future).

 

[mazz0]

we hold ourselves and our suppliers to the highest standards to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect

Riiiiiiiiight!

You outsource to China (among others) because it's cheap. It's cheap because they don't have the same standards we have. Don't pretend you don't know this.
[automerge]1583155507[/automerge]

This is pretty weak. So it’s some suppliers in Apple’s supply chain that are allegedly using this labor but we don’t know what specific Apple products or components (if any) this labor is involved in. And we have no idea for how long or what steps Apple has taken. Supply chains are incredibly complex. To suggest that every company is responsible for the conduct of every supplier they engage with is nuts. Seems to me Apple is one if the better corporations in this regard with their supplier responsibility report and actions they have taken in the past (and will take in the future).

The fact that all big businesses are just as bad doesn't stop it being bad.

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

The fact that all big businesses are just as bad doesn't stop it being bad.

The fact that they sell premium products at ridicolous margins makes it even worse.

 

[Shirasaki]

Coronavirus has made the world dependence on China a lot more pronounced and apparent. Apparently India is by far the only country not affected much by this virus. Maybe companies should speed up moving parts of (or all of) the production to India now?

 

[5105973]

Apple is selfish with respect to ideals. Until their CEO is Muslim, they won’t do anything about it. Now if this was gay labor, there would be an immediate ban on these suppliers.

No, China has oppressive policies toward LGBTQ. And they have a shocking amount of control over the content of our movies. Everyone who screams censorship because Apple was (apparently erroneously) reported to want family friendly content doesn’t realize one of the reasons we haven’t yet seen major characters depicted as gay in the big franchises is due in part to offending sensibilities in China. China is now a huge market for western films and they also wield influence as both consumers and via investment in production. The recent movie about Mr. Rogers is an example of the latter.

Tim Cook knows this. He’s got Apple stores in countries with laws that are hostile to LGBTQ. It’s all business and nothing personal on that front.

 

[chfilm]

That‘s just... nice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_labour_under_German_rule_during_World_War_II

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

And people will say "how did we not see this coming?". We saw it coming, but as usual, we just didn't do anything.

I couldn't agree more... and also I can't hear it anymore... "we haven't seen that coming", "that was not foreseeable",... In almost all cases this directly translates to "I'm incompetentand/or incapable of performing my duty and should have been removed from my job long ago."

 

[5105973]

Coronavirus has made the world dependence on China a lot more pronounced and apparent. Apparently India is by far the only country not affected much by this virus. Maybe companies should speed up moving parts of (or all of) the production to India now?

Moving ALL the eggs from one basket to another is foolish. They diversify their suppliers for a good reason. Now it’s time to consider diversifying location of manufacturing. Especially for medicine and medical supplies!

India has a lot of vulnerabilities that make it a high risk partner as well. And with their incredible numbers of people living in poverty the Coronavirus would be an epic nightmare if it breaks out there among the poor, of which there are many.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

I find it disingenuous to state that "Apple is implicated". The Chinese government is in (mostly) total control of the workforce and can set whatever policies they want. Good? Bad? Doesn't matter. There's not much Apple - or any other western company - can do about it except pull out of China... and that would be silly. Could they enforce paying workers more? Sure. Could they enforce worker protections? Not a chance.

 

[Rojaaemon]

Whose going to tell Bernie?

 

[iapplelove]

Tim, get off your high horse. I swear if I wasn’t so invested in apple stuff I would have switched by now.

I know Apple isn’t the only conglomerate who uses these practices but it’s Tim who brags about how pure Apple is.

 

[GuruZac]

The fact that they sell premium products at ridicolous margins makes it even worse.

Not disagreeing but their margins have fallen since the Steve Jobs days.

 

[Winni]

That‘s just... nice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_labour_under_German_rule_during_World_War_II

Yes. So is this:

Slavery in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Or this:

History of slavery in the Muslim world - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[5105973]

I find it disingenuous to state that "Apple is implicated". The Chinese government is in (mostly) total control of the workforce and can set whatever policies they want. Good? Bad? Doesn't matter. There's not much Apple - or any other western company - can do about it except pull out of China... and that would be silly. Could they enforce paying workers more? Sure. Could they enforce worker protections? Not a chance.

Well, I guess we have to ask ourselves, why we have put ourselves, as a country, into a situation where pulling out of business with a country that has some human rights abuses similar to those of the Nazi era and our own era of slavery would indeed be “silly” from an economic survival standpoint.

It’s complicated with China. It really is. A huge nation with many lovely and kind people have become an integral part of many nations, as this Coronavirus has shown. Unfortunately their government is an insidious one and their reach is really shocking to behold. No detail is too small for them to overlook when it comes to finding any possible perceived slights.

A few times this week there were things I wanted to contribute to various discussions about the Coronavirus situation. Some things that are sort of “inside information“, in a sense. And I realized with dawning horror that I was afraid to post certain details here, from my home in the US to a US based forum, because there’s a good chance someone does monitor major forums like this, for comments that could be contrary to their government’s desire for influence over our culture. The consequences of even the most innocent but careless comments could have unintended repercussions for my Chinese acquaintances and friends that are impossible for westerners to imagine. I only know because I’ve been cautioned.

Self censorship is one pernicious effect of the reach of their system.

 

[Winni]

I find it disingenuous to state that "Apple is implicated". The Chinese government is in (mostly) total control of the workforce and can set whatever policies they want. Good? Bad? Doesn't matter. There's not much Apple - or any other western company - can do about it except pull out of China... and that would be silly. Could they enforce paying workers more? Sure. Could they enforce worker protections? Not a chance.

It wouldn't be "silly" to pull out of China. It would be the moral choice.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

It sounds pretty nasty 😔

 

[nylonsteel]

not cool
last vestiges of communist state heavy authority

 

[trainwrecka]

The fact that they sell premium products at ridicolous margins makes it even worse.

Those margins are what protect the company longterm. They realize the grass doesn't always stay green (Apple knows this many times over, even if it hasn't been often in the last 15-20 years).

Also, the margins matter little if people are willing to pay. They set the price for what they think the item should cost based on RND, marketing, manufacturing, delivery, floor space, etc. Apple is notorious for spending a lot on RND and marketing. Looking at the iFixIt teardown of parts means nothing in reality.

 

[Spock]

Apple is in a position to set an example for other corporations on manufacturing. They have the money to create Apple manufacturing plants that can pay a living wage and provide amazing working conditions, even in China. They could start a trend and brag about it like they do with the environmental impact report they do on all products. It would also cut back on leaks from the factories. I would gladly pay extra for an Apple product sourced by someone that was being treated well and paid well.

 

[samh004]

It would appear Apple (and a few other companies) have been blindsided by the Chinese government here – no surprises there! Right now is not a good time to be cancelling supplier contracts, what with production low thanks to COVID-19, however it will be interesting to see how Apple (and others) move forward from here. I wouldn't know how best to proceed, but I guess there's a strong reaction and a much lighter reaction to this news and these companies need to work out the best course of action to take for their image/brand and probably more importantly, their shareholders.

 

[himanshumodi]

Tim, get off your high horse. I swear if I wasn’t so invested in apple stuff I would have switched by now.

So much hypocrisy here.