A maker of Apple Computer's iconic iPod said yesterday it has cut its demand for defamation damages over a report it mistreated its workers to a symbolic 1 yuan (US$0.12) following a wave of bad publicity.
Hongfujin Precision Industry Co (鴻富錦精密工業) said it was reducing its demands for damages from a pair of Chinese journalists from 30 million yuan (US$3.8 million) "to avoid blurring the issue because of the great public attention on the target of the injunction."
The company also said it was withdrawing its request that the court handling the case freeze the journalists' personal assets.
The dispute highlights challenges big companies face in living up to their codes of conduct while outsourcing most of their production. It also reflects the pressures Chinese journalists confront in doing their jobs.
The case provoked an open letter from journalists' advocacy group Reporters Without Borders demanding that Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, intervene.
It also sparked a flurry of Internet and media comment.
"The public's right to know is in danger when sprawling corporate power, aided by distorted legal procedures, attempt to stifle freedom of the press," the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily said in a commentary yesterday.
Apple said on Wednesday it was working behind the scenes to help resolve the dispute.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Holdings (鴻準精密), Hongfujin issued a statement saying that any compensation it receives in the case would be donated to charity.
"Of this entire episode, what the company had asked for is simply the right to protect her reputation, to preserve the Chinese dignity," it said. "Any claim to us is more for its symbolic meaning than anything [else]," it said.
Hongfujin, reportedly China's biggest export manufacturer last year with overseas sales totaling US$14.5 billion, filed the suit in Shenzhen, where its factory is located. It named two journalists at the state-run China Business News, which ran stories alleging that some workers on iPod assembly lines worked 15-hour days under harsh conditions for low pay.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS