“Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese dissident whose flight to the U.S. in April roiled U.S.-China relations, said iPhone-maker Apple Inc. should take a more outspoken role criticizing China for its one-child policy,” Sara Forden and Adam Satariano report for Bloomberg. “Apple, which hires manufacturers to assemble products such as the iPhone and iPad in China, can help stop forced abortions and other coercive population control measures, Chen said in an interview this week. The blind human-rights activist is betting that Apple’s presence in China and the popularity of its products there will help draw attention to the issue. ‘Apple in China should take a very active role,’ Chen said. ‘There’s a huge social responsibility for these international corporations like Apple.'”
Forden and Satariano report, “Chen and other China human-rights advocates are seeking a meeting with Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to discuss their concerns. They sent a letter to Cook last week asking Apple to adopt measures to end coercive family planning practices in its factories. The proposals included prohibiting access to factories for government family-planning officials and refusing to report women who are pregnant without birth permits. The group also wants other companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., to urge the Chinese government to drop its policy.”
“Introduced in the late 1970s and made mandatory in 1980, China’s one-child policy restricts most married couples to having one child in order to control population growth in the country of 1.3 billion,” Forden and Satariano report. “Migrant women must provide certificates showing their childbearing and birth-control status to the provincial government where they work, according to government regulations. Employers are required to play a role in family planning and accept government supervision, the national commission says on its website.”
Forden and Satariano report, “Apple said in its most recent annual corporate responsibility report that 24 facilities it audited conducted pregnancy tests of female workers and that 56 didn’t have policies and procedures that prohibit discriminatory practices based on pregnancy. Apple said it classified these practices as discrimination, even if permitted by local law, and that the suppliers had stopped the screenings. Apple has said it will stop doing business with suppliers who can’t meet its code of conduct… Chen and his group didn’t provide any evidence that Apple has been tied to forced abortions or other coercive birth- control measures.”
Read more in the full article here.
How much is he paid ?
Apple is a mostly Democrat company. Democrats love abortion (and hate God and Israel), as evidenced by their convention, so it’s doubtful Apple will do a damn thing to stop the murder in China or anywhere else.
Democrats are idiots. Biden, Pelosi, Waters, Frank, etc. Morons bent on ruining America through stupidity.
That is right!! (Sarcasm)
Yo should become athe President of an Independent party and solve all the problems!!
I know you can do it!!
That is right ! (sarcasm)
You a non-moran should become the President of US and direct America out of stupidity !!
I know you can do it non-moron !!!
Stop trolling loser
In fairness to Democrats, all that video proves is that Liberals have no problem subverting the rule of law and blatantly disregarding the will of voters. It’s a bummer when your party of criminals, liars and cheats bite you in the ass, huh?!
Dude I am sorry but I have one question to ask me presidential candidate…. Do you believe you wear magical underwear …. Sorry but a yes answer disqualifies you…. PERIOD….
the only magical underwear I know of come from Victoria’s Secret…,
See Obamacare.
Reconciliation my ass. The time to pay draws near Democrats.
Obamacare. A nation wide implementation of Romneycare.
a state is not the federal govt.
Romney has promised to repeal and replace the obamacare fiasco.
Last time I checked Israel was not one of our States. Israel’s standing in our country should be no different than that of any other country. Is there something special about Israel? Should it have special privileges above all other countries? How come you didn’t say “Democrats hate God and Mexico?” Would that be better?
I love abortion???? I hatte God???? Thanks for letting me know how wrong I have been all these years. Imagine after all this time being a Christian how I was a non-democrat.
Do I have to become a homosexual too? Cripes, this is going to piss off my wife and kids.
Honey c’mere, I have something to tell you……..
Abortion is each individuals choice, and god doesn’t exist. It is only a paradigm created by man to control others.
What century is this again?
Oh Enlightened One, teach us! I think you meant to say that liberalism is a paradigm created by man to control others. Look at the history of Socialism and Communism run amok. Always ends the same.
Damn right I’m enlightened…and intelligent enough to know a good hoax when I see one.:)
Also…all government in general is broken and does not represent the average person.
@sherm66
I agree with you, and besides, if there is a God, how do we know there is only one? Maybe there are two Gods (Male and Female). Maybe our souls are in the water and not in the “sky”. Who’s to say? Just because a few people (“prophets”) gave us their opinion a couple of thousand years ago, doesn’t mean they were right.
–but from a person who has no specific religious affiliation it sure seems like all religions are great vehicles to manipulate populations.
What else but religion can get thousands of people to fight wars and kill for yout?
Throughout history, it always seems like the religious “scholars” never fought in the wars that they benefited from. Why is that? Coincidence?
I don’t want to disrespect other peoples religions. People should believe whatever they want or need to believe. Maybe I’m wrong and God will strike me dead tomorrow and there will be no more postings from ConfusedCountry on this site ever again, but for now at this point in my life, I agree with sherm66.
I’m tired of the Evangelists who know the most about God telling us how to live and who to kill.
@ConfusedCountry
I think you haven’t thought through your comments very well. For your initial comments about God, check out: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus
The only thing I’ve ever found that makes sense of the world, and why people do the crazy things they do, is the bible / Christianity.
Look up the definition of Liberal in the dictionary. It means exactly the opposite of what you think it means. Generally it mean liberty and personal freedom guaranteed by the law. The founding fathers were all liberal politicians. Why do hate George Washington?
Nobody loves abortion. It’s a gut wrenching decision for a woman. But women have the right to decide when and how many children to have.
Abundant fertility was necessary to outpace attrition in the primeval world. But in the modern world, reproductive overcapacity has made human overpopulation the earth’s greatest problem. So why do we want to dump more unwanted children into the ecosystem? And how is it some want to think a blastocyst is a person? Is a fertilized hen egg a chicken? Is every acorn an oak tree? Embryos can’t even form corporations.
Human population is NOT a problem. Human mismanagement of abundant resources ARE.
We CURRENTLY produce enough grains worldwide to give every man, woman and child almost 3000 calories / day according to FAO. IOW, we could make every man, woman and child as obese as an average American. This isn’t even including fruits and vegetables.
The earth has the capacity and space to provide for a huge population. 80% of us just decided to crowd into cities and suck up all the resources.
One of the densest countries in the world is the Netherlands @ 466 persons / sq. km and the Dutch don’t seem to be migrating en masse to escape “crowded” holland.
With 133 pp/km2 China is 74th on that list, behind places like Switzerland, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan and Belgium.
China doesn’t have a population problem. They have an absolutely massive land mass.
Oh yeah, repubes’ are Angels…….they LOVE life….sarcasm OFF…UNTIL LIFE IS BORN. Thereafter, it’s ……..”What do you mean you can’t afford heathcare, if you can’t afford it go away and DIE”. Or it’s, “WAR, WAR, God WILLS it, kill everyone in the middle east except Isreal. We must be slaves to Isreal….they are the chosen people”.
Republicans can just fuck off!
In Re- Facts Are Stubborn Things
SPELLING IS A STUBBORN THING
It’s Democratic- not Democrat- any more than you a member of the Republic Party. Interesting to see how deep and wide the Republican memes re-program the minds of Conservabots.
DNC Platform:
1) Taxpayer-funded abortions;
2) taxpayer-funded condoms/pills for law students;
3) demonize capitalism;
4) demonize success;
5) play the race card;
6) pretend we’re not the Communist Party;
7) feed Israel to Iran;
8) toss God into the dumpster;
9) blame others for everything;
10) Hypocritically trot out Bill Clinton, who was impeached and accused of sexual assault by 6 women and who is a serial adulterer, the keynote speaker of a party trying to manufacture blame for a “War on Women” on the other party in order to try to hide the Democrat Party’s record of malaise and miserable failure.
BINGO!
…And republicans are stupid fanatic bigots. They believe god will arrange all their blind mistakes just because of a couple of prayers. All this “grow and multiply” stuff is a total disaster. Stop believing anything and open your eyes, please, for human’s sake!
Apple’s only interaction with governments to influence policy should be related to trade problems, NOT population control or anything else.
Apple’s job is to make great products, not lobby governments. Its ridiculous that you (FAST) would say Apple loves abortion, and hates God and Isreal. You are an idiot.
Apple needs to stay focused on making great products, not infiltrating and influencing governments’ policies on population.
Agree. Apple should focus on trade issues, labor conditions, viable business activity and stay away from an activist role in China government policies.
Dissident activist should also consider contacting various agencies of the U.S. government, National Organization of Women, New York Times and others.
Apple headline grab aside, dissident is looking in the wrong place for change.
Republicans are idiots. Republicans love guns & money and hate good people, as evidenced by their convention. They won’t fight a war for Israel and take orders from Benjamin Netanyahu!
That’s just great. Blame all the PoliTards for everything. Try thinking a little deeper and in 3-Dimensions instead of 1.
Simple is as simple does. 😯
wtf? Nowadays everything is Apples fault???
Actually, this insane attitude toward Apple is nothing new at all. There are those of us who understand Apple. Then there are those who have not-a-fracking-clue about Apple and think their hair-brained BS makes more sense. Therefore, Apple is:
– Gonna die, or
– Gonna bring about the apocalypse, or
– Out to kill off its competition, or
– Brainwashes its fanatics with metaphorical kool-aid, or
– Worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or
– Stole all its brilliant ideas from someone else, or
– Puts little children in chains and whips them, or
– Is responsible for all the crimes of China, or
– blahblahblah
As usual, TechTardiness is RAMPANT.
Please do not feed the trolls.
Apple have got involved in work practices where it directly affects its products. As a result they have significantly improved the work conditions and pay for Asian third party workers who manufacture their products.
I do not believe that family planning is within that area of influence.
However the adoption of devices such as iPads and iPhones indicates an increasing middle class in China which in turn will result in greater demands for freedom in that country. i believe Apple can have a greater influence there than getting involved in politics that are not related to their industry.
Why did we give this asshole asylum? Kick his sorry ass back to China and get him to agitate for change on his own sorry ass.
Apple do not go there. You are a company. Although it is good policy to protect the environment and protect your workers, you have NOTHING to do with dictating foreign policy on other internal matters.
Heya
What is wrong with abortions? If a couple cant afford it then best not to have one eh..
Republicans talk all about the evils of abortion but never give avenues when these single mothers have to raise the children.
Abortion is not a sin…there is no verse in any holy books that says it is….
Well then by your “logic” why stop with killing babies. If a parent looses a job, gets hours cut or just needs money for a new Mercedes, why shouldn’t they be allowed to kill off those expensive teenagers?
One of the few things Government is supposed to do is to protect people’s rights to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When government no longer values life or liberty the we aren’t that far from becoming China.
What an idiot you are! Ever hear of prevention! The CURE is much harder and it’s NOT to kill teenagers as you suggest. Get a fucking education moron!
Wow, you’re dense.
“Thou shal not kill”
I wonder what this dissident thinks China should do about it’s population explosion? Nothing?
I agree with Wingsy. Here is a country with severe population problem that is attempting to fix it. Remember, they have a problem FEEDING all their people; to let the problem get worse is simply irresponsible. No has to have an abortion if they obey the law and don’t get pregnant. How else can they enforce the law?
Over population will be an issue that the entire earth faces if “rapture” doesn’t get here soon enough or is bogus (depending on your beliefs and no judgement being made here ). I can’t say that China is doing this properly or fairly,, but I applaud them for making this extremely difficult choice rather than bury their head in the sand.
One, this is not Apple’s problem.
Two, China may have to relax the one-child policy of their own volition, as the current population becomes unbalanced with too many Seniors and not enough young people to support them.
Their biggest current issue is a large gender imbalance. There are 118 males born for every 100 females. And young men who can’t settle down are more prone to crime, depression, suicide, and a rash of other things.
stop the One child policy now…. We need future Apple product assemblers….as Apple becomes even more successful 1 child per couple will not be enough to assemble their Products… Labor costs will increase …. Just bad for Apple consumers all around
The problem is that Apple opened this can of worms when they decided to donate money toward stopping the gay-marriage ban in California. When you step foot into politics, you open the door for any and all to request or demand your help in other political areas.
Corporations should be apolitical, in my opinion. But obviously that’ll never happen.
The problem in these United States is that the bulk of those advocating against abortion also advocate against any adequate assistance to children who are born into poverty, have birth defects or permanent disability or other social welfare needs. It’s highly hypocritical- not to mention cruel- to bring a life into the world condemned to a life of deprivation, unmet medical and social needs and no path to a life of any quality.
I know few- of whatever political persuasion- who support the casual use of abortion as birth control, and that includes organizations like Planned Parenthood. Abortion should be rare, safe and available to those who need it after careful consultation between the pregnant woman and her physician. The Chinese model of forced abortion is unacceptable to most, but China was driven to it by an spiraling population that is unsustainable in even that very large country.
China is in need of high quality family planning and birth control options in order to manage it’s huge population over time, but that is an issue for the Chinese people to handle- not a for-profit corporation.
You have your head screwed on RIGHT. On this message anyway.
+1.
China needs a real government elected by its own people and kick those fascist bastards that run that place now to the curb.
Oops, wrong end of the 1-Dimensional political scale. Fascists are on the RIGHT. Communists are on the LEFT. At least that is the simpleton interpretation of how it’s supposed to work.
The fact is that NEITHER extreme right or extreme left methods of government actually work. Therefore, BOTH extremes end up meeting on a different dimensional plane called TOTALITARIANISM. It’s actually just plain old feudalism with some HIGH class dictating to some LOW class. It’s a total FAILure of governance. It’s the default when chaos ensues, which is the inevitable result of ANY extreme form of governance.
So frack you BOTH, extremist liberals and extremist conservatives. You BOTH suck major balls!
Since their issue is feeding people… why don’t they just give up the children for adoption instead of abortion. I’m sure there are people in china who can’t have kids… or people elsewhere in the world who would adopt kids from china.
Wow. A sane rational voice. You are a provocateur.
companies should have better things to do than to preach on social issues. Apple is in no way affected by Chinese social policy. Those who think there is a shortage of cheap labor in China obviously haven’t ever set foot there.
Even more sadly, there are some people (typically corporate executives) who think that the resources of a corporation should be used for political power. Perhaps these “leaders” don’t have faith in their ability to compete on a fair, level market? Corporate lobbying should be outlawed, and the disastrous “citizens united” ruling reversed. Corporations are legal entities operating under charter granted by a government that is SUPPOSED TO BE responsive to its citizens. When that relationship is corrupted (which it has), then crony capitalism corrodes all that is good and true in our marketplace. The evidence should be obvious to all – in the USA, China, and elsewhere.
If anything this 21st century world needs MORE abortions (a lot more) not less!
Overpopulation is the single biggest problem facing the world today. Is there a different approach that this dissident would propose to mitigate an unsustainable population explosion? If so, the world would like to know.
I don’t know if overpopulation is THE most important issue, but certainly a major concern.
On a lighter note:
The issue has been around for decades. For fictional sci-fi movie references both direct and in-direct some interesting artistic views:
Soylent Green, Logan’s Run and THX 1138.
@skeeter: I TOTALLY agree. Just about ALL our human problems at this time go right back to this source problem. We knew the planet was overpopulated with humans in the 1960s. The facts of the damage we were doing to everything, including ourselves, were published and verified. So like stupid monkeys, we ignored it all and made more babies.
And like all natural systems, once the resources are used up, the population of the exploiting species will CRASH! Except in our case, we’ve got NUKES. Therefore…
How nice when an Apple article gets hijacked by American political trolls…
We don’t know if Apple as a company has a particular view regarding the legality of abortion in the US or elsewhere in the world. In addition, what this guy is asking Apple isn’t really a position regarding the legality of abortion in China (or elsewhere). The request is fairly narrowly defined and it is really outside of the typical American abortion debate. It is specifically about Chinese policy of FORCED abortions (a woman gets pregnant for the second time and she MUST have an abortion if she wants health benefits, employment, etc, regardless of whether she wants the child or if she can comfortably afford to raise it). The point is, regardless of which side of the abortion debate you’re on, this is a pretty clear-cut argument: government has no business taking away the CHOICE from the women and making it for them. In practically all developed nations of the world the right of a woman to choose what she does with her own body is one of the most basic fundamental rights, and if she wants to have a baby, no government should be allowed to interfere with that choice.
Now, the more important part of this equation is that various people, groups and organisations will increasingly be approaching Apple with requests for certain high-profile action, in most cases on human rights, sustainable development (greening, etc), decent work and similar issues. This is the burden of the biggest and most prominent company in the world. You convince the big ones, littler ones will follow. Apple may or may not be ready for these kinds of action, but it will have to figure out how to deal with it. This is a pretty big part of their PR and corporate image, whether they like that or not.
It is not Apple’s business to take sides in the internal politics of other countries.
In any case, there are so many sides to this particular coin that taking a position is bound to upset someone.
Stay away Apple!
I think everyone should just quit fucking.
What I find really sick about this attitude is that here we are in the USA FIGHTING to stop the Corporate Oligarchy from fracking up our government and dictating us into a Neo-Feudal world of OVERLORD corporations versus peon serfs, while somehow corporate Apple is supposed to save China: Criminal Nation. The INCOHERENCE here is incomprehensible.
CHINA: It’s YOUR country. It’s YOUR responsibility. YOU fix it.
I damned well am working my hardest to fix the USA! I expect exactly the same thing from you. There is no ‘Uncle From America’ coming to save your hell hole of a country for you. Wake up and get to work on your own problems.