An Apple spokesman said in the publication that the company confirmed that Lens Technology “did not receive any labor transfers from Uyghur workers from Xinjiang.” According to the company’s progress report on suppliers, in 2019 Apple conducted 1 492 “reviews” in 49 different countries to enforce its Code of Conduct for Suppliers and the Liability Standards for Suppliers, but refused Post or Lens was among the companies he audited. Josh Rosenstock, Apple’s spokesman, told the Post that the company “conducted a detailed investigation with our suppliers in China and found no evidence of forced labor on Apple production lines.”
The issue of forced Uyghur labor in China has received more attention this year; Congress passed a bill earlier this year that would ensure that goods made by forced labor in the Uyghur region of China do not enter the U.S. and that businesses will be held accountable for such human rights violations. The bill was passed in the House in September, but has since been passed by both. The information and The Washington Post that Apple paid to lobby Congress to essentially water down the bill. Nike and Coca-Cola have also reportedly pushed back the potential legislation through lobbying. Although it has already passed in the House, the Senate has yet to vote on it.
In public, Apple has been consistent in its stance on forced labor: CEO Tim Cook testified at a congressional hearing in July, saying that ‘forced labor is abominable. We will not tolerate this in Apple. Cook also said that the company would terminate any relationships with suppliers who use forced labor – but the Post says that Lens Technology is one of “at least five” companies in Apple’s supply chain that allegedly use forced labor.
This is hardly the first time that Apple has come under fire for its labor practices in China. For most of the past decade, the company has dealt with problems arising from poor working conditions at factories in China, perhaps especially the Foxconn plant. The company appears to have improved over the past few years, but issues continue, such as more recent allegations about reports of student workers in factories. Similarly, Amazon and Tesla also had their share of the claims of labor violations and abuse of foreign workers.
Buzzfeed News reported in detail on possible human rights violations in the Xinjiang region of China, and set out how the country has built up a large number of prison camps over the past few years as it intensifies a campaign against Muslim minority groups such as the Uyghur. Yesterday, the publication revealed that evidence has been found of more than 100 factory buildings on the site of prison camps where it could force prisoners to work. Tell me everything, Buzzfeed News It is estimated that more than one million Muslim minorities have been detained in China since 2016.
Meanwhile, China is working with the European Union on an investment agreement that will include provisions that the country will ‘make sustained and sustained efforts’ to work on the ban on forced labor. However, given the alleged mass imprisonment and forced labor in the Xinjiang region, China has a lot of work to do before its allegations of fighting the case can be taken seriously.