Foxconn, a subsidiary of Taiwanese manufacturing giant Hon Hai,
makes iPods for Apple. It has been the subject of a number of
articles about its working regime and allegations had been made
that the company coerced employees into working overtime.
Apple conducted research into the issue earlier this summer and
produced a report stating that it believed there was no coercion,
though employees did work longer than its stipulated 60 hours per
week.
Two journalists for the China Business News were sued for
defamation by Foxconn in an unusual departure from normal practice,
which is to sue the newspaper publisher. The action was condemned
by press freedom body Reporters Without Borders.
Foxconn demanded $3.8m in damages, roughly 800 years worth
of wages for the pair, and a court froze all the journalists's
assets, including property, cars and bank accounts.
Last week Foxconn partially capitulated in the face of mounting
international pressure, reducing its defamation claim to one
yuan, which is around four pence. It has now dropped the suit
altogether, according to Reporters Without Borders.
That body had written directly to Apple chief executive Steve
Jobs in a bid to have him intervene. "We believe that all Wang and
Weng did was report the facts and we condemn Foxconn’s reaction,"
it said in a 29th August letter. "We therefore ask you to intercede
on behalf of these two journalists so that their assets are
unfrozen and the lawsuit is dropped."
The story produced by the two journalists criticised working
conditions at a Foxconn plant near Longhua outside the city of
Shenzen.
"One cannot say it too often: it is possible to work in this
country without giving up ones values," said a statement from
Reporters Without Borders. "We therefore call on foreign businesses
to demonstrate moral courage when they enter the Chinese
market."
