Chinese respond to report on Apple's suppliers in China
The New York Times republished its scathing report on Apple's alleged indifference to workers' rights in China in a Chinese business magazine to solicit comments "that might prove illuminating for readers" here in the US. Those responses were subsequently buried in a blog post.
The original story, titled "In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad," was republished yesterday (below) by the Chinese-language Caixin business magazine, headquartered in Beijing.
The New York Times obtained comments posted on the Caixin web site, Weibo.com and other social media in China and translated them. It published a series of responses on its "The Lede" blog, which got relatively little exposure.
Chinese on Apple in China
Among the comments New York Times translated for publication: "If people saw what kind of life workers lived before they found a job at Foxconn, they would come to an opposite conclusion of this story: that Apple is such a philanthropist," wrote Zhengchu1982.
"If the story is simply blaming Apple and Foxconn, then it is simplifying the problem. Other companies including HTC, Lenovo, HP and Sony, and their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) companies such as Wistron, Quanta and Inventec, share the same situation. Workers of small OEM enterprises are working in even harsher environments and having more overtime. The root is that they are unable to reach a higher position in the industry chain. Also, there are no effective labor organizations in those factories and the government tends to shield huge companies because of their profits," wrote a user in comment on weibo.com.
"It is biased to blame Apple for everything. The government should supervise the companies and their conduct, not the other way around. It is natural for enterprises to pursue economic profits. But corporate social responsibility needs to be backed up and monitored by regulations and laws," posted ChouzhuDaddy.
"If more rigorous labor protection standards and 8-5 working time protocol are being strictly executed, we can expect a plunge of the workers’ wages. If labor organizations with monopoly rights are established, those rural migrant workers who cannot find a position in the organization will be forced back to their hopeless villages. Manufacturing costs in China will increase in other ways and therefore harm its competitive advantage. Under such conditions, huge companies and advocates get to harvest their reputation and sense of achievement, but who else will get the real profit?" wrote YeyeGem.
"If not to buy Apple, what’s the substitute – Samsung? Don’t you know that Samsung’s products are from its OEM factory in Tianjin? Samsung workers’ income and benefits are even worse than those at Foxconn. If not to buy iPad – (do you think) I will buy Android Pad? Have you ever been to the OEM factories for Lenovo and ASUS? Quanta, Compaq … factories of other companies are all worse than those for Apple. Not to buy iPod – (do you think) I will buy Aigo, Meizu? Do you know that Aigo’s Shenzhen factory will not pay their workers until the 19th of the second month? If you were to quit, fine, I’m sorry, your salary will be withdrawn. Foxconn never dares to do such things. First, their profit margin is higher than peers as they manufacture for Apple. Second, at least those foreign devils will regularly audit factories. Domestic brands will never care if workers live or die. I am not speaking for Foxconn. I am just speaking as an insider of this industry, and telling you some disturbing truth," another users wrote a comment posted by Caixin.
A variety of other comments were published by The Lede," some blaming Apple while many blamed the local government. Others expressed an opinion along the lines of Zhou Zhimei, who wrote, "By the way, construction workers and farmers are also living a harsh life in China, shall we also boycott housing and grains?"
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook has reportedly responded to the New York Times article, writing to employees that "Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are."
Comments
While this is no doubt all true, especially that Apple manufacturers must maintain higher standards, you cannot be sure, particularly in china, that those posts weren't astroturfing.
All businesses need more government involvement.
Couldn't be further from the truth.
New York Times is akin to the UK's Guardian. A bullshit publication for pseudo intellectuals. I have it on permanent ignore.
The NYT is even worse.
I do believe Apple needs to do more on their part and I hope they do.
The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being abused"!
Statistions believe America and Europe are on their way down and the new China is becoming the next world leader followed by Taiwan and Korea funded by greedy western company's who find manufacturing in such regions cheaper than supporting their own country and fellow unemployed countrymen with such work, had Americans had stable manufacturing company's at home to work for and earn a living (the staple diet of a country's wealth) then the world credit crunch would not have happened.
Apple like others makes $billions with its iProducts that westerners demand ever cheaper iTems which has led western company CEOs and shareholders to abandon ship to cheaper more unregulated manufacturing abroad in these country's, China makes ten times that amount by taking advantage of their national income and America looses out.
Worse still we love the cheaper products so much that we throw billions of American $s overseas to fund our obsession and lower a stable home economy in the process.
99% of such purchases are not used to reinvigorate the American economy so Americans and Europeans will get poorer and more unstable eventually unable to afford a home and conversely eastern peoples richer until the table is turned completely and is likely to happen within a generation.
I'm not advocating its all Steve Jobs fault as this is happening across most industries but perhaps next time you buy an iPad you may want to also remember the disenfranchised American workers that American company's abandoned.
Not to worry though eventually China will reinvest abroad to America when it becomes cheaper and more unregulated for them to manufacture in the USA.
The foreign devil thing is a bit harsh
I don't think it's a mis-translation. Rather, it's a matter of language changing more slowly than the culture.
At one time, foreigners were automatically considered evil to the Chinese (and Koreans and Japanese for that matter). Part of the culture built up by the emperors was a very strong 'us vs them' attitude which translated into hatred for any culture different than their own. At that time, anything describing an outsider was properly translated as 'foreign devil'.
The culture has obviously changed a great deal. While there is undoubtedly a great deal of xenophobia in China, it is tempered with a growing understanding of their place in the world and 'foreign devil' is no longer the thought being expressed by most Chinese when they use the word for foreigner.
Couldn't be further from the truth.
""It is biased to blame Apple for everything. The government should supervise the companies and their conduct, not the other way around. It is natural for enterprises to pursue economic profits. But corporate social responsibility needs to be backed up and monitored by regulations and laws," posted ChouzhuDaddy."
That quote is so incredibly right. No government involvement is as stupid as too much as ChouzhuDaddy points out, businesses are in it for the business and government needs to protect the people.
"Deregulate everything" is crazy unless people should work in mega-corporation factory barracks buying their goods from company stores. Look at US corporate behavior pre-unions for an example. Todays unions may be bloated and corrupt organizations that protect laziness with seniority policies, but the protections they won for workers back when they were starting out were very important - reasonable hours, better wages, better (safer) working conditions.
Companies aren't in it to do good by anyone but themselves unless they happen to be run by someone with a particularly strong conscience, and even then probably only when small enough not to have shareholders. Someone needs to take the role of protecting people, though in a nation where companies now are 'citizens' and can pay off politicians, I wouldn't hold out too high hope for that happening. Confusing all regulation with communism/socialism, as they are so often equated, is myopic.
I don't think it's a mis-translation. Rather, it's a matter of language changing more slowly than the culture.
At one time, foreigners were automatically considered evil to the Chinese (and Koreans and Japanese for that matter). Part of the culture built up by the emperors was a very strong 'us vs them' attitude which translated into hatred for any culture different than their own. At that time, anything describing an outsider was properly translated as 'foreign devil'.
The culture has obviously changed a great deal. While there is undoubtedly a great deal of xenophobia in China, it is tempered with a growing understanding of their place in the world and 'foreign devil' is no longer the thought being expressed by most Chinese when they use the word for foreigner.
It may just be the word for foreigner, and it definitely could be used tongue-in-cheek considering the context of " Second, at least those foreign devils will regularly audit factories." Toss "foreign devils" in quotes and it's possible it reads more like intended, considering the writer slams Chinese company practices.
Tim Cook's response is a pr answer as he was/is the one who set up the supply chain for apple and continues to do so. The average Chinese worker will never be allowed to unionize under a dictatorship. I see no FDR on their Horizon. Their leaders live like ours; at the public's expense.