Reports have surfaced and implicated Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft--the three main game console makers--on using what is essentially Chinese slave labor in order to build their consoles and devices.
In a newly-released Australian Strategic Policy Institute report, the report states that 80,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities were sent to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, with the figure stipulated as "conservative and the actual figure likely to be far higher." The workers also have assigned minders and have limited freedom of movement as well, (including constant surveillance), and they are also forbidden from participating in their own religious activities.
There isn't much within the actual report about the companies involved in this debacle--just that they are implicated in "directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside of Xinjiang through potentially abusive labor transfer programs as recently as 2019..." which is concerning to say the least.
There have been a few statements from the named companies. Apple (who are among the 83 companies named in the report) released a statement:
“Apple is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve,” said spokesman Josh Rosenstock. “We have not seen this report but we work closely with all our suppliers to ensure our high standards are upheld.”
China has nothing but good things to say about their 're-education' camps, stating that by "encouraging" ethnic minorities to "interact and develop themselves... China has immensely promoted the interaction and integration among different ethnicities."
Overall, the report explores a few solutions, such as China ensuring that their own citizens receive their "civic, cultural, and labour rights" and to ensure that all of their citizens "can freely determine the terms of their own labour and mobility." Basically, treating all of their citizens as equal human beings.
What do you think of this news? Do you think the named companies should be held to account? Let us know in the comments!
