After Chinese criticism of its request to suppliers not to use goods and services from the Xinjiang region, the US chip manufacturer Intel has apologized. The intention was only “to comply with American laws”, wrote Intel on Thursday via the short message service Weibo, referring to the sanctions imposed by the USA and other countries.
Human rights violations
With the reference, Intel did not want to take a position, but wanted to address compliance with the law. Intel respects that it’s a tricky thing in China. The company operates in a “developing and complex global environment” and should have dealt with it carefully, wrote the chip maker, which makes a quarter of its worldwide sales in China.
The incident shows the increasing risks that multinational corporations are operating in the area of tension between foreign sanctions and human rights abuses in China. The USA, the EU and other governments accuse China of forced labor and human rights violations, especially in dealing with the Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
The spokesman for the Foreign Office in Beijing, Zhao Lijian, again denied the allegations as “lies by forces hostile to China in the USA”. Intel should respect the facts. The newspaper Global timeby the party organ People’s newspaper is published, wrote that many Chinese people did not buy the apology from Intel. In response, the Chinese pop singer Wang Junkai (Karry Wang) from the boy group TFBoys ended his cooperation as a brand ambassador for Intel.
(kbe)