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Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

reuters.com

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Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#81
post #9

>Intel joined other prominent U.S. companies Monday pledging to do more to address systemic racism in the wake of the killing of an African-American man, George Floyd, by a police officer in Minneapolis. >“Black lives matter. Period,” CEO Bob Swan wrote in a memo to employees Monday, embracing the rallying cry of contemporary civil rights activists. “While racism can look very different around the world, one thing th…

It is the same as when Western branches of various multinational corporations redesign their logos in rainbow colors for the Pride month, but their Middle Eastern branches do not ... offending Islam or the CCP comes with enough downsides to make them think twice.

I think the best default way how to view corporations is "perfectly immoral psychopathic beings always heeding the current Zeitgeist for maximum profit and cheap P.R. points among the class that locally matters".

I am happy to change my mind about some of them if they prove otherwise (e.g. by turning down a massive contract for ethical reasons, or standing up to a Twitter mob sicced on by influential people), but this is my default view in absence of other evidence.

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#82
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely! Human rights are the same for all humans.

You do not have a 'human right' to commit crimes, which is why you go to jail in nations that have a legit Justice System. The concentration camps in China are not for people who have committed crimes, they're for people who are of a specific ethnicity, that's it.

My comment refers to the specific abuse with forced slave work conditions for the jailed population in California. Nothing more.

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Why not both?

Sure, I avoid both to some extent. What worries me the most though is smart people taking sides based on mostly propaganda and feeding an escalation of a situation already on the brink of a war.

I mean why choose between Chinese authoritarian regime and the US aggressive and destructive foreign policy?

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#84
post #58

> "Intel (INTC.O) recently published what it described as an annual letter to suppliers, dated December, that it had been 'required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region', following restrictions imposed by 'multiple governments'." As policies go, that one seems kind of clumsy. Assuming for the sake of argument that Uighurs are being used for force…

It's not that simple. If you're competing with local forced labour, your own wages will be artificially driven down. Unfairness spreads.

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm, with respect - it is the US anti-Chinese rhetoric that is changing, rather than Chinese government policy. There are many repressive aspects to the Chinese regime (and government specifically I suppose); but this is probably less the case today then, say, 30 years ago. Certainly I doubt very much repression has been tightened over the past few years. If I'm mistaken - please provide references, preferably to non…

>If I'm mistaken - please provide references, preferably to non-US-aligned media sources. Here's an official Chinese government source defending the use of labour/"re-education" camps in Xinjiang: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201903/19/WS5c9033f0a3106c65c... . In past the Chinese government didn't send large numbers of people to camps based on their ethnicity.

The relevant section of that article is Section V.

China has had a system of labor/re-education camps in the past, named laojiao:

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/ch...

These were supposedly abolished in 2013, but in fact many of them may have been rebranded using other titles, see:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/12/china-s-re-ed...

and this is why I was making the point that such policies are not new.

That being said - the article you linked to really sends chills down one's spines, and just reading the Chinese government's self-justification for forced interment of people not convicted nor charged with any crime indeed serves to emphasize the repressive nature of this practice.

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#86
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That there is any controversy in this statement is insane, but I would be very wary of ever making this statement non-anonymously, because I know I'm more likely than not to be cancelled for it. China has mastered the manipulation of the west's successor ideology better than those in the west that instituted it.

I’ve always thought it to be the reverse, since the west has the whole world at their disposal (in terms of audience and technology penetration)

Ever bought something you believed was Made in Japan but found out later it was actually Made in China?

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#87

To me this sounds like a normal corporate non-apology. If I read the article correctly, Intel's policy to not allow suppliers to source from Xinjiang still stands, forced by Western regulation. They are just apologizing that the policy caused offence. I would prefer if Intel would outright condemn Chinese behavior in Xinjiang, but this particular event doesn't outrage me much.

A corporate non-apology posted exclusively in the affected country, no less. I don’t know whether it’s even right to say that Intel the global company made the statement; the people running their Weibo account are presumably in China and might not have had an option.

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#88
post #34

It's interesting to see that people on both sides are angry -- for different reasons. People on western Internet are angry at Intel for having issued an apology. People on Chinese Internet are angry because they view it as a non-apology, i.e. Intel still goes ahead with the ban. I see people -- including Chinese diaspora -- calling for banning Intel.

> I see people -- including Chinese diaspora -- calling for banning Intel. Is this feasible? There's not all that many other options for x86

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/dual-chinese-zen-cpu-beat-...

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of strikes, labour issues, and general unrest in China. Instead of thinking about it like a 'Orwellian State' - think of it more like an Orwellian State that could go 'off' at anytime. Note that citizens are concerned about their prosperity - as long as growth is happening and money comes in - they are content. But they are also ultra nationalist and ultra ethnocentric to the point where…

> Surprisingly, there are a lot of strikes, labour issues, and general unrest in China. It only surprises people if they consider China as one of: * A harmonious socialist utopia, or * A totalitarian dystopia unfortunately, the US government and mainstream news media are trying to paint China as the latter of the two. ---- Also, irrespective of the extent of nationalism in China, western or US imperialism is a thing.…

Yes the US had (has) a part in separatist movement in China and it spelled disaster.

https://consortiumnews.com/2021/04/08/us-funded-uyghur-activ...

Re: Intel apologises in China over Xinjiang supplier statement

#90

Apple lobbied the US government *against* the anti-concentration camp labor bill that Intel is apologizing for in the OP, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/11/20/apple-u... ( "Apple is lobbying against a bill aimed at stopping forced labor in China" )

Slave labor is super profitable.
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