Workers protest, beaten at virus-hit Chinese iPhone factory

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JOE McDONALD and ZEN SOO an hour ago

BEIJING (AP) — Employees at the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections.

Videos that said they were filmed at the factory in the central city of Zhengzhou showed thousands of people in masks facing rows of police in white protective suits with plastic riot shields. Police kicked and hit a protester with clubs after he grabbed a metal pole that had been used to strike him.

Frustration with restrictions in areas throughout China that have closed shops and offices and confined millions of people to their homes has boiled over into protests. Videos on social media show residents tearing down barricades set up to enforce neighborhood closures.

The ruling Communist Party promised this month to try to reduce disruptions by shortening quarantines and making other changes. But the party is sticking to a “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every case while other governments relax controls and try to live with the virus.



FILE - In this photo taken from video footage and released by Hangpai Xingyang, people with suitcases and bags are seen leaving from a Foxconn compound in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province on Oct. 29, 2022. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory have been beaten and detained in protests over contract disputes amid anti-virus controls, according to employees and videos posted on social media Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (Hangpai Xingyang via AP, File)


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[speak easy]

1. Video from November

A total lockdown/lock-in imminent under China's Zero COVID policy.

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "The world's biggest iPhone plant was rocked by violence as police beat workers with batons ..."

The world’s biggest iPhone plant was rocked by violence as police beat workers with batons during protests at Foxconn’s facility in Zhengzhou, China #WSJWhatsNow http://bit.ly/3Ox5Y9x

Link to tweet

[OneCrazyDiamond]

4. Has Tim Cook responded?

He should speak against the violence.

[Samrob]

5. Idiots the world over, not just here in MAGA land. What is wrong with people?

Money, recreation matters. Lives do not matter? I don't get it.

[dalton99a]

6. It goes without saying that quality control is highly questionable

[dembotoz]

7. they were tired of being treated like androids

[EndlessWire]

8. Well, this is damned scary.

There's never going to be a zero Covid 19, IMO. I also think that it is foolish to relax masking and social distancing practices. I think that we can get down to yearly vax, or lifetime vax, if we are persistent and hardcore.

But, it is sobering to hear that China still has a problem that has resulted in continued quarantines. The takeaway for me is that Covid 19 is still a public health nightmare. Sure, the phone problem and the people's frustrations are evident, but the underlying main problem continues to be this damned pandemic.

If you were a Chinese citizen average Joe, would you tell the authorities you might have Covid, even if you planned to stay away from everyone and kind of hide out?

[AZLD4Candidate]

10. no, because with contact tracing, your family and friends would be hauled off too.

There is no incentive to be honest.

Especially when people are dying of medical condition because the "da bai" won't let doctors in if you have a medical problem that arises. I'm diabetic. I had no way of contacting anyone when I was in Nanjing for quarantine except my wife who was three cities away.

[AZLD4Candidate]

11. To save face, it's better to keep going down the rabbit hole than to admit even a small mistake

And since Emperor Winnie the Flu is now at God-like status like Mao was during the Cultural Revolution. . .

Just wait. News is they are trying to trot out communal canteens for people to eat similar to the Great Leap Forward. Last time they did that, 40 million people starved to death.

Dying housing market
Economics in death spirals
Losing foreign investment
Banking crisis
Industry at a standstill
Products not being moved
A youth unemployment crisis where young people have decided to "let it rot"

Small protests are popping up everywhere and people are beginning. Banner Man in Beijing, riots in Guangzhou, protests in Zhengzhou, anger in Shanghai.

The grip on power is tenuous right now as people are beginning to stand up.

What I know about the place I live is the Chinese people wait the long game. It's beginning, but it will be slow. People aren't at that point yet.

[AZLD4Candidate]

9. I'm here in China. My city is under that now. It is overkill.

I need to do a physical for my visa. . .but the epidemic in Danyang is serious, and the place where the medical examination has been called is currently not allowing Danyang people to do physical examination.

Zhenjiang is 35km away and they won't let Danyang people go. Danyang is part of Zhenjiang.

I've been tested four times this week. Guess what! Nothing. In a city of 2.5 million people, there have been about 100 cases.