China locks down ‘iPhone City’ as stir worsens – Times of India

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BEIJING/TAIPEI: Six million people were on Friday under Covid lockdown in a Chinese city home to the world’s largest Apple iPhone factory, after clashes between police and workers furious over pay.
Authorities have ordered residents of eight districts in Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan, not to leave the area for the next five days, setting up barriers around “high-risk” apartment buildings and checkpoints to restrict travel.
There have been only a handful of Covid cases in the city but under China’s zero-Covid policy even tiny outbreaks can spark gruelling lockdowns, travel curbs and mass testing.
The lockdown in Zhengzhou follows protests by hundreds of employees over conditions and pay at Foxconn’s vast iPhone factory on the outskirts of the city, with images of fresh rallies emerging on Friday.
The latest bout of unrest means that the company’s flagship iPhone plant is set to see its November shipments plummet further, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as thousands of employees left the site. The company could now see more than 30% of the site’s November production affected, up from an internal estimate of up to 30% when the factory’s worker troubles started in late October, the source said. The site, which is the only factory where Foxconn makes premium iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 Pro, is unlikely to resume full production by the end of this month, the source added.
Scores of workers – the Reuters source put the number at more than 20,000 – left the plant on Thursday with payouts of $1,400 from Foxconn. Videos posted on Chinese social media on Friday showed crowds and long lines of luggage-laden workers queuing for buses. Other posts on short-video apps said the Taiwanese tech giant was turning away many of thousands of people who had answered hiring ads from the firm after a raft of departures last month. Some who arrived to take up newly vacant posts had been sent to quarantine hotels outside the plant despite in the end being refused a job, multiple workers told AFP.
Other videos posted online on Friday and geolocated by AFP showed angry workers knocking down furniture and swearing at police in the lobby of a hotel in Nanyang city, about 280km from Zhengzhou. The workers appeared to have been quarantined in the hotel, with a man heard saying in one clip: “Everyone who’s online, please share this.”
The unrest in Zhengzhou comes against the backdrop of mounting public frustration over the government’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid. Daily cases, however, continue to hit records, with 32,965 reported on Friday.
Foxconn declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.





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