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JULY 23, 2009
DEATH AT AN APPLE MANUFACTURER IN CHINA
Interesting details are emerging in the Chinese press about the case of Sun Danyong, the twenty-five-year-old employee of Foxconn who committed suicide in Shenzhen last week after being interrogated about a missing prototype for a new iPhone.
The case has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight on past accusations of workplace abuse at Foxconn, which manufactures products for Apple, and the culture of secrecy imposed on Apple’s manufacturers abroad. (A spokesman for Apple has said it is “saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death.”) The Chinese press initially reported that in the days before he leapt from his apartment window Sun had been detained and beaten by a senior official in the security department of the Taiwan-based company. Some new twists:
A reporter at the newspaper Southern Daily claims to have viewed surveillance footage of two sessions of Sun’s interrogation and says that they show no evidence that he was beaten or locked up. If true, this would contradict earlier reports in the Chinese press alleging that Sun was beaten. Chinese commentators are saying that, whether or not the abuse was physical, the case was mishandled.
In a separate report in Southern Daily, Gu Qinming, the security manager who interrogated Sun, said he had suspected that Sun was lying and therefore talked to him on two occasions, in an office, to get further details. Gu said he suspected Sun of incompetence, and that it was Sun himself who suggested that Gu search his home. Gu maintains that he never beat or confined Sun and only jabbed him in the shoulder—after Sun blamed a female colleague for the missing phone—asking, “Are you a man?” Incidentally, Gu’s name has spread widely on the Chinese Internet, along with his address and personal details, and he told Southern Daily that he is unable to return to his house.
DEATH AT AN APPLE MANUFACTURER IN CHINA
Interesting details are emerging in the Chinese press about the case of Sun Danyong, the twenty-five-year-old employee of Foxconn who committed suicide in Shenzhen last week after being interrogated about a missing prototype for a new iPhone.
The case has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight on past accusations of workplace abuse at Foxconn, which manufactures products for Apple, and the culture of secrecy imposed on Apple’s manufacturers abroad. (A spokesman for Apple has said it is “saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death.”) The Chinese press initially reported that in the days before he leapt from his apartment window Sun had been detained and beaten by a senior official in the security department of the Taiwan-based company. Some new twists:
A reporter at the newspaper Southern Daily claims to have viewed surveillance footage of two sessions of Sun’s interrogation and says that they show no evidence that he was beaten or locked up. If true, this would contradict earlier reports in the Chinese press alleging that Sun was beaten. Chinese commentators are saying that, whether or not the abuse was physical, the case was mishandled.
In a separate report in Southern Daily, Gu Qinming, the security manager who interrogated Sun, said he had suspected that Sun was lying and therefore talked to him on two occasions, in an office, to get further details. Gu said he suspected Sun of incompetence, and that it was Sun himself who suggested that Gu search his home. Gu maintains that he never beat or confined Sun and only jabbed him in the shoulder—after Sun blamed a female colleague for the missing phone—asking, “Are you a man?” Incidentally, Gu’s name has spread widely on the Chinese Internet, along with his address and personal details, and he told Southern Daily that he is unable to return to his house.
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