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Interestingly, small companies like FairPhone work to improve their suppliers' labor conditions. Intel of all the companies is in a position to do the same or

Interestingly, small companies like FairPhone work to improve their suppliers' labor conditions. Intel of all the companies is in a position to do the same or more. However they choose to whitewash their brand by blaming the chinese government of their lack of care. Their hypocrisy backfired, and they let China win on all counts. Ironically they ended up helping whitewash the chinese government.

bogwog 5y ago
How could Intel help improve the forced labor situation in Xinjiang? That’s an extremely sensitive political issue which money won’t solve.
- joshuajill 5y ago
  For once they could try. They can have rules for their suppliers and factories, and enforce those. Other companies do. Even a tiny company like FairPhone does. But no, they chose for decades the cheap labor, and now they turn around and say "no more" just to defend their reputation. In any case, apparently their apologies to China will not stop them from moving away from Xinjiang working, even if just for show.
  - xiphias2 5y ago
    Why do you write ,,even''? You are talking about a product where the main feature is fairness. I'm sure it misses some features that non-fair phones have in return. It's all about what the customer cares about.
- giancarlostoro 5y ago
  If every major company benefitting from China got together and made demands I wouldn’t be surprised if Chinas hand is forced.
  - csense 5y ago
    Any facility or employee on Chinese soil is a potential hostage of the Chinese government. "China's hand is forced" == your factories get nationalized and your employees' families get imprisoned or worse.
- foobiekr 5y ago
  Pretty much every problem in China can be solved with the right economic incentives.
- dillondoyle 5y ago
  They could do a better audit of their supply chains. I'm guessing silica is a big thing for them? Excuse my lack of knowledge on raw materials for processors, just jumping to silica = silicon. I do know the region produces a bunch of it used in solar panels. Intel could also refuse to sell chips to companies that facilitate this genocide - and they are soon going to be forced to more broadly than the current sanctions list. I don't know if any companies like DJI, surveillance camera companies, etc use intel chips but with the new law just passed companies like Intel will have to do a better job making sure their product does not come from or is used to facilitate uyghur human rights abuses.
- josephcsible 5y ago
  By refusing to do any sort of business in or conduct any sort of trade with China.
perihelions 5y ago
A quick search shows as of 2019, Fairphone's suppliers included the Chinese company O-Film [0], which at the time was using forced labor from Xinjiang. They probably had no way of knowing this; Apple [1] was burned by the same firm. The company transported Uyghur victims to a factory southern China (Jiangxi in the Bloomberg article), so Xinjiang wasn't indicated as part of the supply chain anywhere. How much actual impact do these kinds of corporate efforts accomplish? How much merit should we credit these "best-effort" attempts, when when's all said and then, there's still (probably) concentration camp labor in the end product? [0] https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FP3_List_Only_Suppliers.pdf https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FP3_Lis... (page 12, "cameras") [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/shares-of-china-s-ofilm-drop-after-firm-loses-foreign-customer https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/shares-of... >"The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a report last year that Ofilm used at least 700 Uyghur laborers from Xinjiang at a factory in the southern province of Jiangxi. The workers were sent there in late April 2017 as part of a state-sponsored labor transfer program, the think tank said." >"The Uyghurs were expected to “gradually alter their ideology” and express gratitude to China’s ruling Communist Party for their work assignments, the think tank said, citing Chinese-language news articles."
- echaozh 5y ago
  It's really absurd to call any labor performed by Uygur inside China forced labor. Are Uygurs so lazy to deny any labor? Or can they not prefer working in factories than, say, farming or herding cattles? As to the ideology and gratitude part, I think people may alter their ideology if they so choose. After all, the Romans switched to Christianity, and slavery was once legal in the States. And people should be able to express gratitude to people giving them a chance to work for a better life. Even now, people from abroad are moving into the States to work, are they all forced labor?
  - estaseuropano 5y ago
    Your comment makes no sense. No one claims that all Uyghur work is forced labour. As the parent comment and article make clear this is about actual forced labour. And notably the roman empire doesn't exist anymore and the States have outlawed slavery as it is an abhorrent practice that should be outlawed everywhere.

bogwog 5y ago

How could Intel help improve the forced labor situation in Xinjiang? That’s an extremely sensitive political issue which money won’t solve.

joshuajill 5y ago
For once they could try. They can have rules for their suppliers and factories, and enforce those. Other companies do. Even a tiny company like FairPhone does. But no, they chose for decades the cheap labor, and now they turn around and say "no more" just to defend their reputation. In any case, apparently their apologies to China will not stop them from moving away from Xinjiang working, even if just for show.
- xiphias2 5y ago
  Why do you write ,,even''? You are talking about a product where the main feature is fairness. I'm sure it misses some features that non-fair phones have in return. It's all about what the customer cares about.
giancarlostoro 5y ago
If every major company benefitting from China got together and made demands I wouldn’t be surprised if Chinas hand is forced.
- csense 5y ago
  Any facility or employee on Chinese soil is a potential hostage of the Chinese government. "China's hand is forced" == your factories get nationalized and your employees' families get imprisoned or worse.
foobiekr 5y ago
Pretty much every problem in China can be solved with the right economic incentives.
dillondoyle 5y ago
They could do a better audit of their supply chains. I'm guessing silica is a big thing for them? Excuse my lack of knowledge on raw materials for processors, just jumping to silica = silicon. I do know the region produces a bunch of it used in solar panels. Intel could also refuse to sell chips to companies that facilitate this genocide - and they are soon going to be forced to more broadly than the current sanctions list. I don't know if any companies like DJI, surveillance camera companies, etc use intel chips but with the new law just passed companies like Intel will have to do a better job making sure their product does not come from or is used to facilitate uyghur human rights abuses.
josephcsible 5y ago
By refusing to do any sort of business in or conduct any sort of trade with China.

perihelions 5y ago

A quick search shows as of 2019, Fairphone's suppliers included the Chinese company O-Film [0], which at the time was using forced labor from Xinjiang. They probably had no way of knowing this; Apple [1] was burned by the same firm. The company transported Uyghur victims to a factory southern China (Jiangxi in the Bloomberg article), so Xinjiang wasn't indicated as part of the supply chain anywhere. How much actual impact do these kinds of corporate efforts accomplish? How much merit should we credit these "best-effort" attempts, when when's all said and then, there's still (probably) concentration camp labor in the end product? [0] https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FP3_List_Only_Suppliers.pdf https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FP3_Lis... (page 12, "cameras") [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/shares-of-china-s-ofilm-drop-after-firm-loses-foreign-customer https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/shares-of... >"The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a report last year that Ofilm used at least 700 Uyghur laborers from Xinjiang at a factory in the southern province of Jiangxi. The workers were sent there in late April 2017 as part of a state-sponsored labor transfer program, the think tank said." >"The Uyghurs were expected to “gradually alter their ideology” and express gratitude to China’s ruling Communist Party for their work assignments, the think tank said, citing Chinese-language news articles."

echaozh 5y ago
It's really absurd to call any labor performed by Uygur inside China forced labor. Are Uygurs so lazy to deny any labor? Or can they not prefer working in factories than, say, farming or herding cattles? As to the ideology and gratitude part, I think people may alter their ideology if they so choose. After all, the Romans switched to Christianity, and slavery was once legal in the States. And people should be able to express gratitude to people giving them a chance to work for a better life. Even now, people from abroad are moving into the States to work, are they all forced labor?
- estaseuropano 5y ago
  Your comment makes no sense. No one claims that all Uyghur work is forced labour. As the parent comment and article make clear this is about actual forced labour. And notably the roman empire doesn't exist anymore and the States have outlawed slavery as it is an abhorrent practice that should be outlawed everywhere.