Taiwan authorities say China is detaining Foxconn iPhone factory workers


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Foxconn , a Taiwanese company known for manufacturing Apple's flagship iPhone, has a production base in China, but Taiwanese authorities have announced that four Taiwanese employees working at the factory have been detained by local authorities.

China Detains Employees at Apple iPhone Factory Run by Foxconn - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-detains-employees-at-apple-iphone-factory-run-by-foxconn-c5f38f6d






China detained four Taiwanese employees at huge iPhone plant
https://9to5mac.com/2024/10/10/china-has-detained-four-employees-from-the-worlds-largest-iphone-plant/

According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council , which manages relations with China, four Taiwanese workers at a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, China, have been detained by local authorities. The Taiwanese workers were detained because they were 'accused of a crime similar to breach of trust.' However, the exact nature of the accusations could not be determined at the time of writing.

Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou plays a central role in the iPhone supply chain, so the area is called 'iPhone City.' In iPhone City, Foxconn employees who were dissatisfied with the Chinese government's measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus held large-scale protests. This resulted in a reduction of nearly 6 million units in production of the iPhone 14 Pro, which was released in 2022, and became an issue that could not be overlooked by Apple, which outsources manufacturing.

Employees clash with authorities during large-scale demonstrations at Chinese iPhone factories - GIGAZINE



The Continental Commission noted that Foxconn has not suffered any financial loss as a result of its employees' actions, but the company did not respond to requests for comment from The Wall Street Journal.

The Mainland Affairs Commission called the Chinese authorities' allegations outrageous, said the 'inappropriate detention could seriously undermine investor confidence in China,' and called on the Chinese authorities to conduct a prompt and transparent investigation into the matter.

The Mainland Affairs Council raised its travel alert level for China in June 2024 and notified Taiwanese people to avoid non-essential travel to China. The Mainland Affairs Council noted that the Chinese government's tightening of national security laws has led to cases of Taiwanese nationals being illegally detained and interrogated.



The Chinese government has just published new

guidelines to punish 'stubborn separatists' who seek Taiwanese independence in June 2024. The guidelines include provisions that make the maximum penalty for 'Taiwanese independence advocates' the death penalty. A few months after the new guidelines were announced, Chinese authorities arrested a Taiwanese employee of Foxconn, and the Mainland Affairs Council criticized the new policy, saying, 'The new policy puts Taiwanese people working in China at risk.'

The Straits Exchange Foundation , Taiwan's liaison office with China, said it was meeting with and providing support to Foxconn and the families of the Taiwanese detained.

The Wall Street Journal has reached out to local police in Zhengzhou and Apple for comment, but has not received a response at the time of writing.



The Chinese government wants to encourage foreign investment, and the Shanghai municipal government cited 'hollowing out of the fruit chain' as its most pressing economic challenge in August 2024. 'Hollowing out of the fruit chain' refers to Apple moving some of its manufacturing bases to countries outside of China, such as India and Vietnam .

Meanwhile, foreign companies based in China have expressed concerns about the Chinese government's detention of their employees in recent years. A male employee of Astellas Pharma, a major Japanese pharmaceutical company, was detained in March 2023 and indicted in August 2024. Australian journalist Chen Lei was detained in August 2020 and held for more than three years until her release in October 2023.

British and US intelligence agencies have warned that there is a risk that the People's Liberation Army will launch an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, the 100th anniversary of its founding.

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