Last Updated on 24/12/2021 by Sanskriti
Intel has apologized to its Chinese partners and customers after informing them that it will no longer be employing labour or items from the country’s Xinjiang province. The corporation has since removed the comment that sparked the outrage.
Several nations, notably the United States, have imposed restrictions on international commerce with Xinjiang due to China’s treatment of the region’s minority Muslim Uyghur population.
The United States has imposed a restriction on imports from Xinjiang unless firms can demonstrate that items were made without the use of forced labor. The suppression of the minority Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang has been dubbed “genocide” by the US administration.
The United States has imposed a restriction on imports from Xinjiang unless firms can demonstrate that items were made without the use of forced labour. The suppression of the minority Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang has been dubbed “genocide” by the US administration.
“National interest exceeds everything,” said Wang on social media, while nationalist outlet Global Times accused Intel of “biting the hand that feeds it.”
China reacted angrily to this ordinarily routine message. After the letter went viral on Chinese social media, former Intel ambassador Karry Wang terminated connections with the company.
A quarter of Intel’s global sales, or roughly $20 billion, comes from China. In China, the firm has around 10,000 employees. Intel processors were found to be employed in supercomputers used by the Chinese government for Uyghur monitoring, according to a New York Times investigation in 2020.
“We apologize for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners, and the public,” said the letter. “To clarify, the paragraph about Xinjiang in the letter is only for expressing the original intention of compliance and legality, not for its intention or position.”
A quarter of Intel’s global sales, or roughly $20 billion, comes from China. In China, the firm has around 10,000 employees. Intel processors were found to be employed in supercomputers used by the Chinese government for Uyghur monitoring, according to a New York Times investigation in 2020.
“American companies should never feel the need to apologize for standing up for fundamental human rights or opposing repression,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, commented on the letter when asked.
He further said, “I can say as a general matter that we believe the private sector and the international community should oppose the PRC’s weaponizing of its markets to stifle support for human rights.”
