Intel’s letter sparked criticism in China with calls for a boycott
The US chipmaker Intel has apologized for telling its suppliers not to source products or labor from Xinjiang which triggered a backlash in China with calls for a boycott.
“We apologize for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public,” Intel said in a post on the social media site WeChat, hours after its annual letter to suppliers was made public, prompting fury across China. “To clarify, the paragraph about Xinjiang in the letter is only for expressing the original intention of compliance and legality, not its intention or position.”
Intel recently published what it described as an annual letter to suppliers, dated December, that it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region”, following restrictions imposed by “multiple governments”.
After the Intel apology, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said “We hope the enterprise involved could respect facts and tell right from wrong.”
The United States has accused China of human rights abuses in Xinjiang including forced labor. Beijing has repeatedly denied the claims and has reiterated that the accusation of forced labor in Xinjiang is a lie fabricated by Western countries.
The incident is the latest example of multinational companies caught in the middle as Western governments pressure firms to disengage their supply chains from China.
Intel derives more than a quarter of its $80 billion in annual revenues from the Chinese market.