Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more 禄Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
City-born architect lists inspiration behind his designs in a new book
Digitization helps preserve, disseminate intangible cultural heritage
Sunday
- Subscribe
Intel forced to apologize over Xinjiang furor
Print Edition
US chipmaker Intel apologized yesterday to Chinese customers, partners and the public after a letter telling its suppliers not to source products or labor from the western region of Xinjiang caused a backlash.
Intel 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 labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region,” following restrictions imposed by “multiple governments.”
That letter, on the company’s website and in several languages, sparked criticism in China from state and social media.
In its Chinese-language statement on its official WeChat and Weibo accounts yesterday, Intel said that its commitment to avoid supply chains from Xinjiang was an expression of compliance with US law, rather than a statement of its position on the issue.
“We apologize for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public. Intel is committed to becoming a trusted technology partner and accelerating joint development with China,” Intel said.
It admitted to facing a “complicated and changing” global environment, the company said in its Chinese-language WeChat account.
China’s foreign ministry said yesterday that it hoped Intel Corp would respect the facts, when asked to comment on the company’s apology.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson at the foreign ministry, told reporters that he hoped Intel would be able to “distinguish right from wrong.”
Intel, which has 10,000 employees in China, said in its apology that it “respected the sensitivity of the issue in China.”
Intel’s statement is “absurd,” as the company, which earned 26 percent of its total revenues from China in 2020, was “biting the hand that feeds it,” according to Global Times.
Intel is the latest multinational company facing Xinjiang supply chain issues along with apparel and sports firms like H&M and Nike, which claimed they were not using cotton grown in Xinjiang.
On China’s Twitter-like Weibo, singer Karry Wang said he would no longer serve as a brand ambassador for Intel.
“National interests exceed everything,” Wang said in his official studio account, which has 10.8 million followers.
Karry’s post had 519,000 “likes” on Weibo.
Many Weibo users derided Intel’s apology as an attempt to protect sales in China, with one saying “a mistake is a mistake! Retract the statement about Xinjiang!”
The hashtag “Is Intel’s apology sincere?” was trending on Weibo yesterday afternoon.
Within two hours, Intel’s statement was read 12,000 times on WeChat. The company has the closed comments section.
Intel has chip plants in Shanghai and Dalian.
In July, Swedish fashion retailer H&M reported a 23-percent loss in local currency sales in China for its March-May quarter after it expressed concerns about human rights in Xinjiang.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
