China asked Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) and other Taiwanese firms to pay more attention to safety after a deadly blast at a Chinese factory making iPads for Apple.
Production in parts of the plant in Chengdu was suspended by Foxconn, Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner, after three workers died and 15 were injured in a blast in a polishing workshop where Apple’s signature products undergo finishing.
“We hope that Foxconn and other Taiwanese companies can learn a lesson from this, fulfill their safety responsibilities, strengthen internal oversight controls, scrutinize hidden dangers in a timely manner and ensure safe production,” said Fan Liqing (范麗青), spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, yesterday.
“After the accident happened, the local government immediately undertook rescue work, and set up a joint investigation team. As I understand it, the initial findings are that this was a production safety accident,” Fan told a news conference.
“Foxconn has said that it will make an all-out effort to treat the [affected] workers and reassure family members and will remove hidden safety dangers in accordance with relevant demands,” she added.
This is not the first time Foxconn has been hit by controversy.
A string of worker suicides at its sprawling plants shone a harsh spotlight on what critics dubbed a militaristic culture pushing its workers to the brink to meet a flood of unceasing global orders for Apple’s slick new generations of devices.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last