Intel Express Regrets to China for Following US Sanctions That Targets Xinjiang ‘Genocide’

Intel Express regrets to China for Following US Sanctions That Targets Xinjiang ‘Genocide’. Intel has been said to issue an apology to customers and partners in China after it spoke to local suppliers it wouldn’t be using labor or goods sourced from the country’s Xinjiang region.

Intel Express Regrets to China for Following US Sanctions That Targets Xinjiang ‘Genocide’

The company has removed the statement, which caused the original counterattack. International trade with Xinjiang is controlled by numerous governments which including the US over Chinese treatment of the region’s minority Muslim Uyghur population.

Prior to this month, the U.S passed a ban on imports from Xinjiang that unless companies can prove that goods have been produced without any use of forced labor. The U.S government has pronounced the suppression of the minority Muslim Uyghur’s in Xinjiang as “genocide.”

Intel Express regret to China for Following US Sanctions That Targets Xinjiang ‘Genocide’

According to the verge, in its annual letter to suppliers, Intel stated that it was “obligatory” to follow boundaries on Xinjiang trade that was imposed by “multiple governments”

And this would “guarantee our supply chain doesn’t use any labor or source goods or services from Xinjiang region.”

(That portion of the letter has now been removed from Intel’s website, but an archived version can be found here.)

This normally-procedural note caused a backlash in China. The letter went viral on Chinese social media, leading Chinese popstar Karry Wang, a former Intel ambassador, to cut ties with the firm (“National interest exceeds everything,” said Wang on social media), while nationalist outlet Global Times accused Intel of “biting the hand that feeds it.”

The Chinese Market Is Responsible for a Quarter of Intel’s Global Revenue

The Chinese market is responsible for a quarter of Intel’s global revenue, or around $20 billion. The company also employs more than 10,000 people in China.

A New York Times investigation in 2020 found that chips made by Intel were being used to power supercomputers deployed by the Chinese government for Uyghur surveillance.

In response to this backlash, Intel apologized on Chinese social media sites on Wednesday. In a letter addressed to the Chinese public and local partners, Intel said it was limiting trade with Xinjiang only as a legal formality and not a political statement.

“We apologize for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners, and the public,” said the letter. “To clarify, the paragraph about Xinjiang in the letter is only for expressing the original intention of compliance and legality, not for its intention or position.”

American Companies Should Never Feel the Need to Apologize

When asked to comment on the letter, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that “American companies should never feel the need to apologize for standing up for fundamental human rights or opposing repression.”

Psaki did not comment directly on Intel but said “I can say as a general matter that we believe the private sector and the international community should oppose the PRC’s weaponizing of its markets to stifle support for human rights.”

 Intel’s Trouble Is the Latest Example of U.S Tech Firms Being Squeezed

Intel’s trouble is the latest example of US tech firms being squeezed on both sides by the demands of the US and Chinese governments. There are numerous examples of US companies complying with intrusive Chinese orders in order to retain business in the country.

These vary from the significance, like Apple storing user data on servers run by Chinese state-owned firms, to the absurd, like Amazon deleting all reviews under five stars for Chinese president Xi Jinping’s book.

Intel’s apology for following US law will not be the last example of these pressures leading to hypocritical behavior.

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