Taiwanese officials have confirmed that four Taiwanese employees working at a Foxconn Technology Group facility in Zhengzhou, China, have been detained by local authorities. This incident adds to a growing list of corporate detentions that have negatively impacted business confidence.
One of the Taiwanese agencies responsible for managing relations with China stated that the employees were accused of an offense similar to a breach of trust. However, the specific nature of the allegations remains unclear.
Joyu Wang for The Wall Street Journal:
The Zhengzhou facility plays a central role in Apple’s iPhone supply chain and has sometimes been called iPhone City.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles policy toward Beijing, quoted Foxconn as saying that the company didn’t suffer any financial loss connected to the actions of the employees. Foxconn didn’t reply to a request for comment.
The council described the allegations as bizarre and said improper detention could severely damage investor confidence in China. It urged Chinese authorities to conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the matter.
The council in June upgraded its alert level for travel to China to the second-highest level, saying Taiwanese people should avoid nonessential trips. It said Beijing’s tightened national-security laws have led to Taiwanese citizens being illegally detained or interrogated.
The move came after China announced new rules targeting individuals it labels as “Taiwan independence die-hards,” threatening them with the death penalty. Taiwanese officials said such measures put many Taiwanese working in China at risk.
MacDailyNews Take: As Potter Stewart said so well, “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”
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