Some of Apple Inc’s suppliers in China have once again come under scrutiny, with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) accusing them of causing pollution.
Taiwanese media gave prominent play yesterday to an investigative report aired on Sunday in which CCTV reporters visited suppliers that Chinese environmental groups in August had said were thought to be doing business with Apple and had lax environmental standards.
In the 40-minute report, CCTV named Japan’s Meiko Electronics Co and Taiwanese notebook casing supplier Catcher Technology Co (可成) as polluters.
“China, as the world’s factory, is experiencing pains of restructuring. The emerging environmental problems for the country’s large-scale manufacturers are closely related to China’s status in the global economic structure,” CCTV said.
The report, which was picked up by almost all Taiwan’s dailies and given a prominent two-page spread in one business newspaper, was partly behind the fall in the shares of Apple suppliers listed in Taiwan yesterday. Those shares were also hit by Apple reporting results that missed expectations for the first time in years.
Catcher Technology shares plunged to the 7 percent daily trading limit for the third day in a row after it began a partial shutdown at its factories in Suzhou on Sunday on the order of local authorities amid environmental complaints.
Another case maker, Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準), a Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) affiliate, fell 5.88 percent, while Hon Hai edged up 0.4 percent.
Touch-panel maker TPK Holding Co’s (宸鴻) shares also fell by the daily limit.
Both camera-lens makers Largan Precision Co (大立光) and Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光) saw their shares fall by the daily limit as well. Print-circuit board suppliers Compeq Manufacturing Co (華通) and Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興) were 6.2 percent and 2.22 percent lower respectively.
CCTV accused Apple of turning a blind eye as its suppliers polluted the country. It also alleged that 27 suspected Apple suppliers had severe pollution problems, from toxic gases to heavy metal sludge.
Taiwan’s Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday republished the full list of 27 firms, adding its opinion that Taiwanese firms were becoming the “sacrifices in a trade war” between China and the US.
Apple suppliers, including Hon Hai, TPK Holding, Wintek Corp (勝華) and Compeq, issued separate statements yesterday to deny speculation that their production sites in China have been forced to shut down amid environmental concerns.
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and Pegatron Corp (和碩) also said their Chinese operations were running normally.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said he believed Catcher was an individual case and that it should not be over-exaggerated. However, he said the case indicated that it was an inevitable trend for firms to pay more attention to environmental protection.
Additional reporting by Amy Su and Kevin Chen
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