Apple Can’t Ignore Its Giant China Problem

Last week’s protests at an iPhone plant affirm that the company’s compromised approach to China is risky and unsustainable.

hile Americans were enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with their families and friends last week, protests broke out at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China, and protesters clashed with police. The incident is a reminder that Apple can no longer afford to ignore its China problem.

Foxconn, a Taiwan-based company and one of Apple’s most important suppliers, owns the factory in Zhengzhou, China. The factory reportedly employs about 200,000 people. Last week’s protests were driven mainly by two grievances.

First and foremost was workers’ dissatisfaction with the company’s strict Covid protocols and poor living conditions. It has been three years since the first Covid outbreak in Wuhan, China, became known. Yet Beijing has continued to stick to its “zero Covid” policy and to enforce it with harsh measures, including frequent lockdowns.

To avoid shutting down its factory, Foxconn has been running a closed-loop system, keeping employees confined within the factory and company-run dormitories. Following the Chinese government’s Covid protocols, workers have been subjected to daily mass Covid testing and mandatory quarantine for those who tested positive and everyone in their proximity. The company also compels workers to wear N95 masks and take Chinese traditional medicine (there’s no independent research supporting Beijing’s claim that certain traditional Chinese medicine can fight Covid).

According to Bloomberg, these Covid protocols are deeply flawed. For instance, “As many as 20 workers’ throat swabs were put into one tube to speed testing and lower costs. If the results came back positive, all the workers whose samples were in that one tube were put into isolation for further testing. Those who worked on the same production line with someone who tested positive were also immediately removed from their duties and put into quarantine.” As of October, about 20,000 workers were reportedly put in quarantine on-site.

Unable to go outside, workers complained about long physical isolations from friends and families. They were also unhappy with the living conditions inside their dorms. They told reporters that they either received poor quality food or sometimes no food at all. “In some dormitories, trash piled up for weeks because no one was allowed to leave the building.”

Workers Flee

The Chinese government’s “zero Covid” policy created much fear among the Chinese. In October, when rumors about a Covid outbreak inside the plant began to spread, thousands of workers who were already sick of the isolation and the pathetic living conditions fled the factory on foot.

Foxconn tried to lure workers back by promising to pay an extra 30 yuan (about $4.19) in hourly pay. It might not sound much to Americans, but before this additional bonus, only those holding key positions inside the factory earned about 38 yuan ($5.30) per hour. Thus, the bonus was significant enough to entice some workers who fled in October back to work. But last week, when a rumor began to spread that Foxconn would delay the bonus payment until...

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