OFILM, a tech supplier that employs Uighurs under highly restrictive conditions, touts customers like Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG and Huawei.
NANCHANG, China — In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants such as Apple and Lenovo. Throughout the neighborhood, women in headscarves stroll through the streets, and Arabic signs advertise halal supermarkets and noodle shops.
. China has long suspected the Uighurs of harboring separatist tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion.. A dozen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people who were sent by the state to work in factories in China’s east, known as inner China — some from the camps, some plucked from their families, some from vocational schools. Most were sent by force, although in a few cases it wasn’t clear if they consented.
“If you’re Uighur, you’re only allowed outside twice a month,” a small business owner who spoke with the workers confirmed. The AP is not disclosing the names of those interviewed near the factory out of concern for possible retribution. “The government chose them to come to OFILM, they didn’t choose it.”In this photo taken Wednesday, June 5, 2019, neighborhood residents chat near the entrance to an OFLIM factory in Nanchang in eastern China's Jiangxi province.
OFILM’s website indicates the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners. It touts customers including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG and Huawei, although there was no way for the AP to track specific products to specific companies., published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang. It’s unclear whether the specific OFILM factory the AP visited twice in Nanchang supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed.
OFILM also lists as customers dozens of companies within China, as well as international companies it calls “partners” without specifying what product it offers. And it supplies PAR Technology, an American sales systems vendor to which it most recently shipped 48 cartons of touch screens in February, according to U.S. customs data obtained throughPAR Technology in turn says it supplies terminals to major chains such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Subway.
At first the program targeted young, single women, because the state worried that Uighur women raised in pious Muslim families didn’t work, had children early and refused to marry Han men. But as stories of poor pay and tight restrictions trickled back, police began threatening some parents with jail time if they didn’t send their children, six Uighurs told the AP.
Before Uighurs were transferred for jobs, the paper continued, they needed to be trained and assessed on their living habits and adoption of corporate culture.The paper also described government incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies for Chinese companies to take Uighurs.
OFILM is one of Nanchang’s biggest employers, with half a dozen factory complexes sprinkled across the city and close ties with the state. Investment funds backed by the Nanchang city government own large stakes in OFILM, corporate filings show. The Nanchang government told the AP that OFILM recruits minorities according to “voluntary selection by both parties” and provides equal pay along with personal and religious freedom.
State media reports portray the Nanchang factory workers as rural and backwards before the Communist Party trained them, a common perception of the Uighurs among the Han Chinese. “We were overjoyed that leaders from the Lop County government still come to see us on holidays,” one of the workers, Estullah Ali, was quoted as saying. “Many of us were moved to tears.”Human rights activists display dolls which they say depicts thousands of missing ethnic Uighurs outside the Chinese embassy on March 5, 2020 in The Hague, Netherlands. Minorities fleeing China describe a far grimmer situation. H.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
China's giants from Alibaba to Tencent ramp up health tech efforts to battle coronavirusFrom Alibaba to Baidu and Tencent, China's top tech companies have launched new features aimed at helping diagnose cases and finding a vaccine for the coronavirus.
Baca lebih lajut »
Gadgets for tech giants made with coerced Uighur laborBeijing says China’s Uighurs need to be trained to adopt corporate culture and sent to work in China’s heartland, toiling in factories supplying global tech giants. “Those who fail will not be exported.”
Baca lebih lajut »
ELLE's Women in Tech: The 2020 Power ListTech is at a moral crossroads. These leaders are transforming the future.
Baca lebih lajut »
An unexpected tech boom in SerbiaThe digital revolution is arriving for Serbs. Last year's digital exports reached €1.4bn, an increase of 55% on 2017
Baca lebih lajut »
10 things in tech you need to know today - Business InsiderHuawei could be in big trouble as new documents suggest it broke sanctions on Iran by shipping it US equipment from HP and Microsoft.
Baca lebih lajut »
Tech Glitches Slow Voting in California - WSJ.comIn Los Angeles County, the electronic pollbooks—which are used to check in voters—struggled in some cases to handle the volume of voters, according to a watchdog group
Baca lebih lajut »