Violent protests broke out in the largest iPhone manufacturing plant in China, owned by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconnwhere there were clashes between workers and security personnel to demand better wages and better living conditions in the factory.
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In videos shared on the social networks Weibo and Twitter that the AFP verified, hundreds of workers from this plant, located in Zhengzhou, can be seen demonstrating on a road in daylight.
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Some clashed with riot police and people in protective suits. Foxconn confirmed the riots on Wednesday.
A video shot at night showed a man with a bloody face while someone off camera said: “They are beating people, beating people. Do they have a conscience?” Another video filmed in the same place showed dozens of workers confronting police officers shouting “Let’s defend our rights!”, while another voice speaks of “smoke bombs” and “tear gas.”
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The AFP verified those videos in part thanks to the geolocation that shows distinctive features, such as a building and barricades near workers’ living quarters on the factory grounds.
In a daytime video, several fire trucks surrounded by police in protective suits appear near the housing blocks as a voice is heard on a loudspeaker saying: “All workers please go back to your accommodation, no associate with a small minority of illegal elements.
China’s “zero covid” policy is causing fatigue and resentment among broad swaths of the population, with weeks-long lockdowns in factories and universities or a ban on free travel.
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郑州富士康 双方吃饱了 开干
警察把战场分开地方 不让员工集中
员工集中就占据优势 策略成功
2022年11月23日(九) pic.twitter.com/gtFdV6nmvG— 白小7️⃣ (@tw_Tomy7) November 23, 2022
The Weibo hashtag “Riots at Foxconn” appeared to have been censored on Wednesday, but some posts made reference to the protests being ongoing.
Foxconn said workers had complained about wages and conditions at the plant, but He denied that he had accommodated the new workers together with the staff contaminated by covid-19 at the Zhengzhou factorythe world’s largest producer of iPhones.
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“Regarding violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent a repeat of similar incidents,” the Taiwanese tech giant said in a statement.
focus of riots
Foxconn, also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry, is the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, assembling devices for many international brands.
The Taiwanese tech giant, Apple’s main subcontractor, recently saw a spike in Covid-19 cases at its Zhengzhou plant, prompting the company to shut down the complex in an attempt to keep the virus in check.
The massive facility of some 200,000 workers, dubbed “iPhone City,” has been operating in a “closed-loop” bubble ever since.
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Images of workers fleeing on foot in panic appeared this month in the context of allegations of poor living conditions at the facilities.
Several employees told AFP scenes of chaos and disorganization in the workshops and bedrooms.
To compensate for the flight of workers, the company offered large bonuses and other incentives to the employees who stayed, and the local government sent in new workers in an attempt to keep the factory afloat.
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Apple acknowledged this month that the closure had “temporarily affected” production at this factory, the crown jewel of the Taiwanese company, which produces iPhones in large quantities.
Foxconn is China’s largest private sector employer, with more than a million people working across the country in some 30 factories and research institutes. China is the last major economy that clings to this strategy to fight covid-19, which consists of imposing massive confinements, tests and long quarantines.
AFP
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