Nintendo Named And Shamed As Benefiting From The Use Of Chinese Forced Labour Camps

Not much to say other than Yikes 😬

It's gonna be hard to stop this when some 80+ corporation benefit from such slave labor, many of whom dwarf Nintendo in size, and almost all of whom are publicly traded profit-driven companies.

Good god. That's abhorrent.

Awful. But our system of production and consumption demands cheap and forced labour so entirely unsurprising as well. Change is needed.

Great write-up.

All technology companies use cheap Chinese labor to keep costs down. It's why the Switch is $300, and not $2000. Why a midrange gaming PC is $1000 and not $8000. I don't see a swift solution to this because so much of our economy is tied up in this kind of exploitative manufacturing.

Basically the entirety of the tech industry, from the looks of it.

Absolutely despicable.

@PcTV almost every major industry uses slave labor it would seem. Disgusting isn’t it?

Okay, so it is possible Nintendo didn't know because it was simply buying parts that could be traced back to the camp, but it's still not a good look. Even worse imo is that Chinese government response, which just sounds really shady to me.

@AnnoyingFrenzy It's the Company's responsibility to look into their supply chain and assess for this kind of thing. Ignorance won't stand up in court & it's likely this will be taken further.

The Chinese government response sounds like some Bond villain euphemisms.

@sikthvash Completely agree, they should definitely look at a different supplier if in fact this report is true. Not sure how you can take this to court though seeing as how this is happening in China.

I always wondered why new Switch came with "DEAR GOD HELP ME!!" carved into the back of it

"For its part, the Chinese government is claiming that the report is inaccurate"

You don't say...

It's the Banksy couch gag all over again, basically.

@AnnoyingFrenzy Who knows, it must be a legal nightmare! Meanwhile, it will become a PR disaster for those if they can't rectify.

Either way, Nintendo's pleas for more money through DLC or NSO fall on deaf ears when something like this happens.

Big oof. If you boycott Nintendo for anything, it’s this. Not because they won’t let you have two AC islands

@KingBowser86 what?

"We screwed up, big time, and we'll stop" - start there. You don't even have to pay me five or six figures for this advice.

And people act like Byleth in Smash was an issue...

Don't ask questions; just consume products.

How many of us will stop using products based on this information? Does that not make us guilty too? I include myself here.

@TeslaChippie Wouldn't cost quite that much. Maybe an extra $100 to $200 tops.

Fujifilm, for example, has some of their top-of-the-line cameras manufactured in Japan; other models are made in China but have a similar price. (The X-Pro 2 (Japan) is priced around $1300, as is the X-T3 (China).)

I really don't want to hear it when companies say they do it to cut costs.

@sikthvash The real issue here is, let's say every company on that list finds a different, more ethical supplier. Now the slave camp is no longer profitable for the Chinese government, what are they going to do with those people? The potential answer to that question disturbs me a little.

We’re all hypocrites.

@guamyankee We might as well just stop using/buying everything, then. It's a ridiculous assumption.

@AnnoyingFrenzy I feel like there will always be a buyer of slave camps. Next soulless corporation.

This is not a Nintendo problem. It's a system problem.

@AnnoyingFrenzy I was pondering that myself, earlier. You and I know what would happen.

Now the thing is: who is it to blame? The companies that support this (probably due to the big competition), or the Chinese government, that allow these things to happen? Or even us, for buying things we know they are done by these practices? Or everyone? Damn it...

@Iacobus Dont get me wrong. Im not stopping use of the product. But I am aware of my own hypocrasy.

Who do we blame?

China: Who values money more than it values human rights.

Companies: Who care more for cheap products and profit margins more than human rights?

Ourselves: Who care more about saving money and having the latest thing and don’t consider our fellow man?

We can’t act like we don’t know what is going on. We all have a part to play in this. And as we allow it to continue, it will.

No one can say but Nintendo themselves whether they were aware they were sourcing some components from labor camps. As @Rexenokid highlighted, they weren't directly supplied by the camps based on the flow of the infographic, and it's possible they're unaware. If they do know, then this really only reflects on the higher-ups at Nintendo and the hardware development team. The software side of things isn't involved, and so it's not like Nintendo's games are tainted for it (unless cartridges also source components from labor camps). Hopefully there's some kind of more ethical out companies can take without that causing other issues.

@Crockin Like the "pity party" they had in the dialogue of Rusty Slugger, or saying that NSO will "make the best sense" when it's still P2P and didn't feature a system to eliminate modders and cheaters.

@Kienda The question is, what can we do about it as consumers?

@Kienda Eh, we and the media have called out for action, but Companies and Governments have no incentive to listen when well-functioning economies and profits make them both look good.

@DinnerAndWine mine had a baby sellotaped to the back of it. I imagine that the Chinese writing on the Postit note said please pay the excess post charges and feed the baby and look after it.

Come on people get a grip, they're just being good capitalists and maximizing their profits by lowering their labor costs! Its not like there are alternative systems that would prevent this kind of deplorable abuse like all businesses being owned by their workers and structured and ran democratically by the workers for their benefit.

Well it's about time someone sorted out what's been going on in a clearly understandable manner.

What is very unfortunate here is that the underlying human trafficking is likely to be near impossible to sort out, even for the companies that place manufacturing orders.

That said, I'd love to see Nintendo make a statement on how to combat this. Games are meant to be one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone.

I didn't know about the Uyghur forced labor. I did know about utterly abusive and demeaning labor practices in China and elsewhere and I have continued to buy the products. I am partly to blame, yes. But we need to call on these companies, and governments, to put a stop to this. If ever a boycott is morally justified this must be it. But will it happen?

China is a secretive country, and by the sounds of things all this is very new. Going off the government's claim, it sounds like the companies involved didn't know. Why reveal what's going on if it would harm business?

But either way, until that's revealed for certain, and unless there's no action taken, there's no reason to boycott anything. This is a big indicator that it may be a good idea for companies to stop having their products made in China.

I'd like to see Nintendo make a statement as well...and tell us what they plan to do with this information. With that in mind, I have a suggestion and a request for Nintendolife. Organize a petition to Nintendo. You are a respected website. Your name and our signatures are the least we can do to effect change.

So, pretty much every notable company in tech then.

I find it interesting that reports of stuff like the Coronavirus and now this are suddenly being pushed so strongly in the "news" and on "social" media just as it serves the interests of those who wish to paint China in a very bad light. . . .

I mean, 3/4 of a million people die of the flu each year in the world, which is far more than the Coronavirus to date (by an order of magnitude), and yet somehow we're all in a state of panic about the Coronavirus "epidemic", which for most people has little more effect than a common cold or the flu.

And I suspect these "slave labour" conditions reported above are probably being somewhat exaggerated to a degree too.

It's just food for thought.

@TeslaChippie Yep, that was the argument for keeping the use of slaves in the 19th century as well.

Everyone is guilty we as consumers want everything cheap.

@TeslaChippie If we thought of primarily profit and nothing else, half the world would still be in chains. This is wrong, regardless of the money saved.

As others mentioned. Due to the nature of the supply chain and the common practice of falsifying information in many Chinese industries, these companies may not have known of these camps being involved in production. It is still their responsibility and they knew what kind of country China was. I expect Nintendo to actually do something about this. The costs of shipping and the rising wages in some provinces was already pushing some companies out of China. I hope this incites change.

@TeaLovingBrit they're capitalist so if they leave China they'll just to another country where they can use exploited labor to maximize their profits.

This is why China shouldn't be allowed to take part in international trade. How can we compete with slave labor?

@YorkshireNed See, this comment kinda goes right to my point above.

Again, it's certainly food for thought.

@KingBowser86 I mean yea their online service isn’t good, but it costs practically nothing and is sold by the software. Same with dlc. I think you are interpreting that as a pity party, but really it’s just business. Gauging at worst

@YorkshireNed to get something like that done would require an international treaty with strong enforcement mechanisms and there'd be a huge impediment The United States. The 13th amendment of our constitution explicitly allows prisoners to be used as slave labor, and American businesses use them to cut their costs.

Before y'all go getting your knickers in a twist, anyone seen any proof?

@Crockin And I think you're not holding Nintendo to a high enough standard considering that we're now paying them.
So just agree to disagree and watch our service and products get worse, same as it's ever been and going to be since people won't change or have standards.

Even the Samsung phone I am using to type this message is tainted. I always knew without direct evidence this was happening...for some reason this report has really struck a nerve. Perhaps I am waking up.

The sad part is this has been going on for a long time. It's not just the ethnic muslims. China is known for cheap labor. If I remember right, America had Chinese workers working on making railroads in the 19th Century and they were men from China with their families still in China. We passed a law eventually to let their families come over but Chinese weren't allowed to marry white people. Really, when you look at the history of most countries, there's going to be all kinds of evil that happened.

@gcunit
Do you believe something paid for by the Trump regime or china? Not a great choice.

The sweatshop and labor camp culture of China has been known for quite some time. Nike using Chinese sweatshops in the 90s was many people's first introduction to this issue, and the issue recently resurfaced with Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn having labor camps and multiple suicides. The suicides became so numerous that Foxconn hung suicide prevention netting outside its factory and dormitory windows to catch those attempting to jump to their deaths. Every technology company that uses China for some or all of its parts manufacturing is affected by these issues, and it is up to Big Corporate to stop funding this communist regime rife with human rights violations... but they won't stop.

With the coronavirus happening serve some the companies right for putting all there eggs in that one China basket. As a American citizen am glad my country is standing up against the bullies leaders of China and hopefully we get something good out of this tariff war in the end.

What the Chinese are doing to the Uighur people is straight out of a horror movie. Forced Labour camps is the better side of it... Check this investigation out by the BBC

https://youtu.be/WmId2ZP3h0c

@AnnoyingFrenzy you shouldn't be defending them. That's sick that just because you like nintendo you will ignore the exploitation of of human beings. Half of the people in these camps are there because they weren't afraid to speak out against opposition or because they weren't afraid to practice their religions. You disgust me

An economy reliant on infinite growth requires forever worsening labour conditions.

@dew12333 what does trump have to do with this?

Products might have been more expensive back in the day but you can't deny that when the West was engaged in manufacturing, people could afford houses and support their families with factory jobs. And we had and continue to HAVE the highest labour standards and unions stood up for the rights of workers. Then the West threw contract after contract to China and now we have inferior products that break the moment the warranty runs out, and a return to forced labour camps with zero labour & environmental protections. Why do we continue to do business with this country? It's time that Western countries took back our manufacturing jobs.

@dew12333 These are good points. The information in the reports are very, very well organized to the point that it doesnt seem possible it could be fake. However, I dont actually see any real evidence. At the same time ...it seems likely this really is happening. Whats the track record of the organization that put this report together,anyone know?

@dew12333 Oooh, both options sound so tempting.

The whole issue of ethics (which I'm not particularly into anyway) is so clouded by political/commercial/social propaganda that I find it hard to side one way or another on any topic du jour, so I just keep away.

I don't cry for the tuna in my sandwich, the chicken in my curry, or the forced labour at the other end of my electronics supply chain.

@PickledKong64 Defending them? Not sure how you got that idea, I clearly state in my comments I think they should change their supplier.

@TeslaChippie not entirely true, Apple for example is on the list but at their prices vs margin.

Our products are made this terrible way not to make them cheap, but that companies (at least all the named ones) earn their huge margins, its not cheap for us but cheap for the companies to make more money.

If all these stuff was made in a humane way the products wouldn't be that much more expensive effectively, it's that all the scummy companies would make it all super expensive to get these stupid margins and hard cash

@guamyankee

You would have to live isolated in the woods like the unabomber to avoid any blame for the ills of our society.

Not surprised in the slightest. With companies paying bottom dollar to ground level employee and paying huge bonuses to executives and share holders why wouldn’t they also use slave labour? Honestly depresses me how greedy these companies can be. Why not have some profit and pay people a living wage or any wage in this case.

@KingBowser86 I mean that’s not totally true lol. I hold nintendo to a pretty high standard when it comes to key purchases like software and hardware, and for the most part they are killing it right now. They make many questionable and weird decisions that certainly don’t support, but I see something like NSO as lacking, but not so bad that I would skip playing smash or splatoon or Mario kart online. It could be so so much better, but $20 a year might as well be 50¢ to me.

@GrandScribe Agree with every point you made. This is a systemic problem. A little tweak here and there and some people boycotting these companies will do nothing.

But questioning the very foundations of this economic system isn’t comfortable or natural for most people.

@AnnoyingFrenzy you saying, "Maybe Nintendo didn't know." That's defending them. Nintendo knew darn well.

Welcome to the future. Glad I'm picking and choosing more these days where I'm spending my money but at the end of the day, we're all kind of supporting this. Big change is needed but I doubt it'll happen with China rising

@gcunit is this really such a stretch for you to believe? Where do you think all this stuff comes from? Happy factories in California where everyone is over 18 and makes over 50k a year? This has been a horrifying reality of western capitalism for a long time

@PickledKong64 We have no proof that they did; that's not defending them, especially since I point out that it's still a bad thing regardless if they knew or not. Im just being optimistic and you are assuming the worst.

Our system outsources suffering.

I recommend reading:
The Divide: a Brief Guide to Global Inequality

@PickledKong64 Look up the word "maybe" dipshit.

These corporations need to take a stand and stop China from having a chokehold over the world’s manufacturing process. This is a capitalist world we live in; if there is demand, there will be competitively priced alternatives elsewhere.

"But games and console are too expensive"
At least that's what so many players will tell you on a daily basis.
Well, I'm all for games and consoles being more expensive, what about you?

LMAO... Everyone writing “ohhh no! This is terrible!” from their iPhones, PCs, Samsungs, etc.

As a wise man once said: "Oh groovy, smashing, yay capitalism!".
Meanwhile, let's blame the "communists" for the forced labour we all so greedily and happily and willingly ignorant support. All while working forty-hour weeks, for forty years (and rising), only to be extorted for forty percent of our income, and call it freedom.
Saying Nintendo didn't know -or even that we couldn't have expected this- is like saying you didn't know animals are murdered for meat, or that you couldn't have expected that the dairy industry is a murder industry as well. Or denying knowledge of human rights being denied in any war, especially by the terrorist invaders (of which the US and the EU are among the best examples, financed by that forty percent tax extortion "for schools, roads,...", also for "defense" and "the war on terror", and of course "illegal immigrants and the unemployed").
The more humans, the less "humanity". We're all "(human) resources" for a machine with infinite growth in profit and power as only goal.

Well.. If you don't want to pay 1000+ euro for a Switch then this is what you get. Just think how many hours it would take to produce a single Switch, the materials used, the shipping, the profit for the store, the profit for Nintendo and the tax you have to pay.

Somewhere corners need to be cut, so these companies all use the cheapest labor available so their profits stays high.

This is how capitalism works, people. Always has, always will.

Capitalism only cares about money.
Communism only cares about the government (and money).
A third system doesn't really exist.

The only solution for this problem would be to abolish money. However even that wouldn't last long, since we are bound to start trading again. And trade would also result in trying to trade more for less.

@Shambo You really want me to believe you actually thought that out?

It sucks, but eh, nothing I can do about it. I want to continue using Nintendo products, and that is where my stance on it ends.

@DarthFoxMcCloud it is because governments have been corrupted their nation's powerful capitalist class into doing what's best for them at the expense of the working class which is profit maximization by using exploited foreign labor. It won't change until enough people demand labor be empowered.

@NotTelevision questioning the economic system you live within has never been comfortable but suffering has a way of blunting or eliminating that influence. We're in such a terrible state in the United States that even people who are in the middle class are uneasy about doing the right thing and getting tested if they think they have the coronavirus because they're afraid they'll get stuck with huge medical bills.

@ALinkttPresent capitalists had to be forced by governments to not use child labor or dump toxic chemicals into rivers, or to not hire mercenaries to assault union members so why exactly would they abandon what's financially in their best interest?

@Entrr_username I didn't know who, what, or where, but it's impossible to make profits without someone, somehow, somewhere, being exploited for it. Or to have power without enslaving the bodies and minds of people.
So yeah, I knew someone, somewhere, somehow, would have to pay for the profits of a huge corporation and the tax extorting governments all around the world, basically corporations with no product to sell, just lies. And it's never just the consumer that pays the profit, no matter how "fair trade" they say a product is.

Come on then... where's this pile of unwanted Switch and 3DS games and devices everyone is handing back in protest?

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism but god its a good idea to at least try and make it less unethical.

And some people thought South Park's recent portrayal of China was overdone.

This is why we need a better President who cares about people instead of making rich people richer. These rich companies make record profits every year and pay people like crap. Even in America people get paid like crap. Vote for change.

@Elvie Funny enough, that episode (literally titled Band in China) got South Park banned in China

Highly recommend everyone to watch the BBC report on these camps. It’s very apparent that their govt is hiding what’s really happening. And if the camps aren’t bad enough, apparently unspeakable horrors happen to these people if they get out of line or resist. Like extreme torture scenarios. It’s beyond awful.

@Kienda Doesn't matter who we blame. Us consumers will forget about it a week or so anyway. And that's not me saying this isn't an issue, but there's really nothing the consumer can do since so many companies are guilty of this.

well no suprise see apple huwaie or amazon there but the big N that preach so much. Sorry they need sort this sssssssssssssssssssssss out. Dont fffffffffffffffffffff preach to us about morales then use slave labour in concentration camps.

It would be nice if Japanese electronics went back to being made in Japan.

It makes my soul ache knowing their is still treatment going on like this in 2020, how humans can treat other humans in this way just boggles my mind. No wonder war just breeds war, the minds damaged will only go onto create the next hate regime and so on, where the fk is this going to end?

@Crockin This isn't an all-or-nothing thing and it doesn't (shouldn't) require a boycott. We and media outlets should just be constantly harping on Nintendo on delivering adequate service and not using forced labor.

@TeslaChippie I see your point but your prices are really dramatically over the top.

Don't we literally see this about once a year that all the tech companies are using some company that leads back to slave labor. It's not new, doesn't mean nothing should be done. However I think it's tough because the tech companies use other companies that are then using the slave labor.

This surprises people?

Did someone really think that Nintendo produced their consoles in some special laboratory with scientists in white clothes, something "Wakanda-style"? Almost every object you have, tech, shoes, clothes, even food, involves people that can be called slaves. Is this good? Obviously not, but don't act surprised.

Doesn't look like anyone gets off scott free here. People shouldn't be surprised. Go and look up where Cobalt comes from and what it's used for.

”What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.”

As long as there are people with money, prestige or power; war and slavery will always exist in some form or fashion. Most of us choose not to pay attention or speak up out of fear of losing what little we believe we have over others.

@KingBowser86 I wish you luck in your protest

So basically everyone on here is up in arms about this, not enough of course to make them stop buying or using any such product linked to the said outrage.

@DarthFoxMcCloud : Great comment. All of the blame falls on the corporations. And I'm an American moderate that's pro business, and owns and operates my own small business. These companies have been using outside, underground cheap labor for decades while removing many of those jobs from areas where they were a norm. I'm not sure how any one government can combat this without a significant step back in terms of economic growth. This is a very complicated situation and a solution is going to take decades, not a few days, months or years.

@Cyberbotv2,

You can't totally rule out the end consumers role in all this, their need for good value and cheaper products can't be underestimated.

I’m shocked that such a practice can occur now in the 1990s...wait. It’s 2020? Same thing.

@johnvboy : I agree with that too. Consumerism breeds greed. A consumer always wants more, and a majority don't care how it gets there, as long as it gets there.

Again, I'm not sure what the solution would be. To pay workers more would require a cut in a corporation's profit. Then they would raise prices to maintain or increase profit. Government can institute consumer, VAT taxes to fund services that would normally be deducted from paychecks to increase take home pay. I dont know. I can't imagine the average American consumer paying more for goods, and the younger generation has become used to these flattened prices. That has already happened in Japan. They have an entire generation that balks at VAT increases and will wait or outright not purchase goods. Again, complicated situation, and whoever comes up with a solution will have to appease both the consumer and the corporation.

It's gonna be hard to stop this when some 80+ corporation benefit from such slave labor, many of whom dwarf Nintendo in size, and almost all of whom are publicly traded profit-driven companies.

@Crockin I've done what I can posting here, already. Frankly, what any of us can, since our governments are out of control. Doesn't mean we don't stop protesting, though, while figuring out actual action to take. Because if we stop, may as well be complicit.

Ignorance is no excuse on this. These companies know, or should know, the kinds of practices the Chinese government engages in against its citizens. I don’t care how hard it is, at a minimum these companies need to cease using these parts and find suppliers that can be verified to be ethical. Preferably they should be planning ways to minimize use of Chinese labor and facilities.

@PBandSmelly Except I'm sure there is some part in your car that was made under similar circumstances. The fact that big companies indirectly benefit from forced labor doesn't shock me but the question is did they already know or what do they with the information now that they have it?

@HobbitGamer You shouldn't be, this isn't a big revelation. Shocking and abhorrent behavior, yes. Shocking news, no. We all like our cutting edge technology and cheaper and cheaper products with two day shipping but we really don't think of the human cost of what it takes to get that device in your hands.

This is the world we live in. Nothing we can do about it

@Yorumi This is an online discussion thread. Did you need to write an essay?

@impurekind Yes there are more flu deaths, but there are an estimated 5 million cases of the flu world wide each year. Of course the flu kills more people each year. I'm not saying that the media is not blowing things out of proportion, but if you brought Corona virus up to the infection numbers that the flu achieves, your argument would be invalid.

I wonder how much Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and Apple know that the factories that they are using have this **** going on in them. Not saying ignorance is appropriate or justifies this, but I would assume at the least family friendly Nintendo will be non-plused about finding out.

Granted this is the CCP, so who knows how long this has been going on. Is this a recent development due to the spread of COVID-19 to supplement their workforce that's either dying or sick? Or has this always been happening, but kept quiet to avoid bad international press against the party? Who knows!

This is a wake-up call for these companies to move their factories out of Mainland-China and into I don't know, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, The US, Canada, countries in the European Union... I don't know places that have laws against and does not participate in this kind of disgusting practice.

@tseliot I know it’s not a revelation, hence why I mentioned the 1990s.

These kinds of places shouldn't even exist in the first place! Exploiting cheap labor in foreign countries is also bad, but at least the workers have a choice most of the time!

@Yorumi still I don't think the Big N would want to be associated with the CCPs labour camps. Just will not wash well with their North American or European audience. Even if their Japanese fans would not care. Just bad business and PR.

@Yorumi,

Totally agree with this.

Slave labor never produces the same quality of product.

It's not the companies that are indirectly link to these Chinese force labor, we are also indirectly link to it as well since we're buying their products which drives up sales which means it persuade companies to produce more and force the labor to process harsher.

@LaytonPuzzle27

That's not how tariffs work. The ones being hurt are American worker and farmers.

https://youtu.be/gGYoeJ5U7cQ

Take a look folks. These are the people the report says are making our products.

Who cares if the White House was made by slaves? So was your phones, computers and videogames you're using right now.

Sadly many (me included) are probably reading this story on a smart phone that requires exploitation of workers in China

@impurekind Go look up all of the reports about the camps. Unless you blindly believe the Chinese government, even the most conservative reports are horrifying.

It's forced? I always heard companies paid double what other similar low education jobs paid so the factory jobs were the desirable jobs. The other low education jobs are Farmers working in fields in the blazing sun.

I'm forced to work due to student loan debt. Am I a slave or an indentured servant?

@fafonio [insert Matt Bors' "we should improve society somewhat" comic]

@tendonerd Your case is all a matter of perspective because we are all slaves to the dollar. But this goes beyond poor wages and questionable working environments. This is some sick level stuff that is on the same level as the USSR Gulags or Concentration Camps from the 1940s. These people are being forced to work as slaves, their culture being stripped from their children and... in some reports the women being sexually abused. It's some sick stuff that is happening to the Xinjiang Uyghur. And if Nintendo knew about their products coming from this camp... I question of I will continue to support them.

It’s 2020 why can’t the world be a nice place to live and work, why do people have to hurt each other. Wish I had answers. People hurting people makes me sad

Thanks for sharing this and not wearing blinders ! I'm interested to hear Nintendo's reaction.

Fake news. Blame China not the companies who accepted bids and terms for manufacturing goods. There is no way to be sure of what is happening when a government covers up everything.

@gcunit edgelord alert! Everyone beware, we have an edgelord in here!

not so much electronics but there are areas in which is is possible to buy American (or British or European or Canadian or whatever). i have been buying only made in usa clothes, stationery, and various housewares for a while. it can be done to an extent.

Good they should be shamed. Multi-billion dollar corporations like Nintendo need to take social responsibility into account.

I will never support China or its industries until their loathsome government collapses and the American government stops exploiting people for profit...

@Zidentia you sound like trump- arrogant, rude and blind to reality...

@tendonerd slave and servant it would seem.

@Sean161 if people can be exploited in China, it can happen anywhere else. Grow up.

@Yorumi you don’t know how slavery works, do you?

You keep writing at length yet have nothing of value to share or say.

@Maschinenmensch
Your comment was rude and ill informed. Reading through all of them in this article shows a rambling barrage of disorganized thinking. You blame the American government and the Chinese but your depth of understanding is obvious.

I am sure the Chinese economy and its slave labor force benefited you when you purchased any type of electronics or a variety of goods. Put your beliefs into action and purchase only domestic products otherwise your talk is hollow ranting.

@Zidentia mind your own business and save your tepid speeches for someone else, bub.

You make me sick.

The companies probably aren't profiting from the slave labour; they're probably getting charged the usual Chinese labour rate. The Chinese Communist Party is the one making money off of the slave labour. Also, it's a little odd Volkswagen isn't on the list. They opened their factory in Xinjiang shortly after China started rounding up Uyghurs.

@PBeni maybe Volkswagen had a better screening process or is more hands on with their factory. I cannot think of another reason they did not end up in this mess.

I doubt there's anything electronic that hasn't been in china in the last 20 years.

As for Volkswagen, i believe the factory in china makes cars for that regions marked. If i'm not wrong, the factories in germany make cars for the local/eu market.

@impurekind So many implied assertions based on personal incredulity.

The Chinese government paints itself in a bad light through its own actions. Actions which we have undisputed evidence of.

As for Coronavirus, let’s hope it isn’t a major problem. But I would question why the Chinese authorities, who value patriotic propaganda and the power of China above all else, have effectively ordered the emergency shutdowns of so many industries and cities. That is disastrous for their economy. Would they do this over a simple cold?

I doubt it.

I could write a thesis paper on all the human rights violations America and Australia commit, past and present. So frankly I don't give two craps what they have to say on the topic anymore.

America isn't the good guy on the block, it's just another player on the board, like everyone else, they look out for their own interests. Nothing more.

@Heavyarms55 that's a bit harsh. Even my little spot of the world Canada has some rather dark parts of our history (a bit less than the US, but still not the most glowing). That and even our current tack record can be improved in regards to our relations with our Indigenous Peoples. But, I'd say currently in Canada nothing comes even close to what's currently happening to the Uyghurs, the Tibetans or even Hong Kongers. You don't see the Canadian Army rounding up citizens just because they speak a different language or culture in this day or age. This is as close to the Soviet-era gulags or worse 1940s style concentration camps you can get in a supposed first world country.

Each country should look after their own self interest, but also the self interest of their citizens. My issue with the PRC is that the CCP only looks after the CCP and does not care about their citizens.

Wait... this is new news to people? I thought everyone knew tech companies did this.

@Yorumi The workers who are part of unions aren’t radical socialist most of the time though. These are regular people that don’t want to be in conflict with the power structure and board of directors at their factories, but the system hasn’t given them any choice. Unless they just want to accept working in horrible conditions or just be replaced by machinery that will put them out of work.

Companies had a choice to stay in US and UK and continue manufacturing, but they chose China because of higher productivity and lower wages. That is ultimately what this system values most. Otherwise there would be seats on the board of directors for workers. Germany has such a system, but they had to fight long and hard for that.

Ironically people who union shame others are just advocating for all modern industrial countries to follow in China’s footsteps. Shouldn’t democracy be extended to various areas our life other than every 2-4 years in a voting booth? Worker’s right has manifested itself into perhaps a slightly simplified and crude form (the union), but at this point it’s the only option people have.

@gabe_reisinger i think the news about this is it's not just slave labor, its slave labor of a group they've been heavily oppressing (and i believe murdering en masse recently, iirc)

@NotTelevision I believe in small unions. Ones that are made up of the working class for their rights! The problem with Unions is the same as Political Parties. They start with their hearts in the right place, but they grow so fat with power that corruption forms in their hearts. You get people in unions who want the best for their members, but at the top will always be a fat cat looking out for their self interest only. There will never be a perfect system, because humans are just so imperfect.

And the world keeps on turning.

So sad this still happens. You have ceos earning stupid amounts of money, treating people like this is just plain wrong. Hopefully things can improve.

@Wexter This website isn't the place to go into great detail on the topic, but my comment wasn't harsh, it was being generously kind. I could be a lot more harsh - America has more than the usual share of dirty laundry. All the info is out there, in the public record, but certain political groups will shame you to no end for daring to talk about it.

@AnotherGoblin These companies have been reported to use Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through potentially abusive labour transfer programs as recently as 2019: Abercrombie & Fitch, Acer, Adidas, Alstom, Amazon, Apple, ASUS, BAIC Motor, BMW, Bombardier, Bosch, BYD, Calvin Klein, Candy, Carter’s, Cerruti 1881, Changan Automobile, Cisco, CRRC, Dell, Electrolux, Fila, Founder Group, GAC Group (automobiles), Gap, Geely Auto, General Electric, General Motors, Google, H&M, Haier, Hart Schaffner Marx, Hisense, Hitachi, HP, HTC, Huawei, iFlyTek, Jack & Jones, Jaguar, Japan Display Inc., L.L.Bean, Lacoste, Land Rover, Lenovo, LG, Li-Ning, Mayor, Meizu, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Mitsumi, Nike, Nintendo, Nokia, The North Face, Oculus, Oppo, Panasonic, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Roewe, SAIC Motor, Samsung, SGMW, Sharp, Siemens, Skechers, Sony, TDK, Tommy Hilfiger, Toshiba, Tsinghua Tongfang, Uniqlo, Victoria’s Secret, Vivo, Volkswagen, Xiaomi, Zara, Zegna, ZTE.

Did they also include USA working poor labors as well in this? I think USA also should be included with the Group. They want cheap but won't pay a Living Wage.

I thought that these issues were pretty much common knowledge since the whole Apple worker death issue made big headlines in the early 2010’s. There are no ethically manufactured electronics. None. Full stop. The closest thing would be a device like the FairPhone, but even the creators admit that they could not make it 100% ethically manufactured. Abuse of all kinds is rampant in Chinese manufacturing. Corporations don’t care because everybody still buys the products. Nintendo was almost definitely aware of these issues because they work with some of the biggest known abusers in the industry. This Is a very difficult problem to solve, because it is an international one, and also a corporate one (I.e. only profits matter to the corporations and manufacturers, human welfare is irrelevant unless it impacts profits). People need to start complaining to these corporations, and buy as few electronics as possible (because all brands are complicit in these practices), and only purchase as normal from companies that show a huge effort to solve these problems. So far as I’ve seen, even the best efforts so far have been underwhelming at best.

If this shocks you in any way, you can just know you are a sheep.

Companies worth billions didn't get that way by being moral or ethical. They exploit, enslave and conquer.

“ Ignorance is no excuse” OK guys I will meet you in jail. Oh look a 200k fine as well sweet. This is how everyone is saying the system works right?

No fanboyisim on this one. This is f*cking despicable, heinous and abhorrent for every single company involved and they should take immediate steps to stop this and distance themselves from it. And maybe make some very large donations to charities that can right some of these wrongs!

@gcunit I agree, it's just a very messy subject.

@PickledKong64 It is paid for by a 'state run department', which is not necessarily Trump of course. But overall someone who is paying for something that will say bad things about someone in competition with them, not great!

I'm glad we are hearing about this right now. I hope the attention being drawn to it may be the first step toward positive change.

@dew12333 When you take a close look at the actual document that this article is linked to, what you find is that it is well documented and supported by links to other reputable sources. Im still reading through the document. There's no doubt that China is using these despicable practices.

What I havent found so far, and keep in mind I have quite a bit still to read, is the evidence that links these specific companies. I have no reason to believe the companies listed are saints and are not involved. On the contrary I believe they probably are. But Ive yet to see the evidence other than allegations in the article. If Ive missed it, please point it out.

Edit: Ok, Ive read enough now that I am convinced that the article is legit. Do some basic research on Foxconn if youre unconvinced. Shame on anyone who turns a blind eye on this and wont at least acknowledge that it is happening.

@Sean161 spoken like a petulant child. I pity you.

Just look at FoxConn in Wisconsin they were suppose to guarantee 13,000 high paying jobs and now look it is just a research of only 1,300 people. So someone tell me my math who got shaft and whom got a payoff here????

Blame the chinese government not nintendo. But if i was nintendo ill move the switch production to japan. Usa and france

Stop beating around the bush and call them what they really are. Slave's, china is using Slave Labour, many have known this was happening, there just has never been proof. I guarantee many company's knew about this for a while.

@Kienda Gonna be real with ya ( China has never valued human rights ) LOL mao killed 45 million people and he's celebrated as a Hero . you talk against the government you will disappear in china . so Valuing Money over human right , Nah they never gave a ***** about human right that never was apart of the equation lol .

Nintendo talked about this. It is in a file. I downloaded it , I just don't know how to send it. But from what I understood from it, is that nintendo didn't know in the beginning and it has not come directly from nintendo. And they have put a new policy to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or at least that's what I understood. If anybody knows how to send the file and wants it, tell me.