{"id":1262359,"date":"2022-02-01T16:52:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T21:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1262359"},"modified":"2022-02-01T16:52:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T21:52:35","slug":"amazon-whistleblower-demands-apology-after-china-jails-and-tortures-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amazon-whistleblower-demands-apology-after-china-jails-and-tortures-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Whistleblower Demands Apology After China Jails and Tortures Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Famazon-whistleblower-demands-apology-after-china-jails-and-tortures-him%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1262359&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\"><span>Forty-three-year-old Tang Mingfang was arrested in 2019 for giving documents to a human rights group that showed a Foxconn factory in China was using child labor for manufacturing Echo and Kindle devices for Amazon.com. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After serving two years of prison time in which he claims Chinese police tortured him, Tang is publicly asking Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos to apologize for their role in his ordeal and help him clear his legal record.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Tang, a former employee of the Hengyang Futaihong Precision Industry Company, furnished a group <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinalaborwatch.org\/forced-labor-whistleblower-was-sent-to-prison-by-amazon-supply-chain-foxconn\/\"><span>called<\/span><\/a><span> China Labor Watch<\/span><span> (CLW) with documents in 2019 that showed schoolchildren were <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2019\/aug\/08\/schoolchildren-in-china-work-overnight-to-produce-amazon-alexa-devices\"><span>working<\/span><\/a><span> illegally long hours at the Foxconn plant in Hengyang.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Over 1,000 students, as young as 16, were drafted from schools, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2019\/08\/09\/report-amazon-alexa-devices-are-manufactured-by-chinese-teenagers\/\">hired<\/a> by the factory as \u201cinterns,\u201d and pressured to work overnight and weekend shifts for meager salaries. Chinese labor laws allow 16-year-olds to work, but not during either night or overtime shifts.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Student laborers said their work had nothing to do with their studies in school, the ostensible reason they were sent to the factories as \u201cinterns.\u201d&nbsp;Nevertheless, their teachers told those who complained, also paid by the factory, that their grades and scholarship applications might suffer if they refused to work.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>CLW forwarded the complaint to Amazon, which investigated and confirmed the allegations were true. Amazon told Foxconn to improve its worker\u2019s pay and living conditions and dismiss the supervisors involved in the child labor complaint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe have doubled the oversight and monitoring of the internship program with each relevant partner school to ensure that, under no circumstances, will interns [be] allowed to work overtime or nights,\u201d Foxconn said in August 2019, blaming \u201clax oversight on the part of the local management team\u201d for allowing unacceptable demands to be made of some students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tang was not rewarded for blowing the whistle on these abuses. Instead, he was arrested on charges of divulging trade secrets and sentenced to two years in prison in July 2020.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>CLW <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chinalaborwatch.org\/forced-labor-whistleblower-was-sent-to-prison-by-amazon-supply-chain-foxconn\/\"><span>denounced<\/span><\/a><span> the verdict as \u201cridiculous,\u201d noting Foxconn essentially charged Tang with stealing the company\u2019s money by depriving it of cheap, illegal student labor. CLW also pointed out that Foxconn\u2019s revenge against Tang violated the whistleblower protection clauses of Amazon\u2019s Supply Chain Standards, not to mention American forced labor laws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Two weeks ago, Tang <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2022\/jan\/30\/alexa-factory-whistleblower-i-was-tortured-and-jailed-now-amazon-should-apologise\"><span>wrote<\/span><\/a><span> a letter<\/span><span> to Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, which was made public over the weekend. In the letter, Tang said he was beaten by his jailers and tortured with stressful conditions until he signed a confession to the charge of infringing upon trade secrets. He also said his father died while he was in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>\u201cThe reason why I reported these abuses was to fulfill my duty to defend social justice and out of empathy for the battered student workers; my intentions were never to seek profit or harm the company,\u201d Tang told Bezos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tang explained he gave his whistleblower evidence to CLW because he had no means of contacting Amazon directly, and local media was \u201creluctant to report\u201d his findings due to Foxconn\u2019s influence in Hengyang.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>\u201cAfter the issue came to light, I was happy to see that Amazon immediately instructed the audit department to investigate and urge Hengyang Foxconn to rectify the problem. I just never thought I would be maliciously targeted by Hengyang Foxconn and pay the price of two years in jail,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tang gave Bezos a detailed description of the stress positions he was forced to endure until he broke and confessed to Foxconn\u2019s charges:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>I could not stand up because my hands were chained onto the little desk that connected the two armrests. I could not do anything but suffer through such grave pain. During the first few days of the interrogation, the officers purposefully turned the air conditioner to the maximum level in the interrogation room, and I felt extremely cold. Eventually, they got angry and handcuffed both hands to the bottom of the iron frame. I was unable to stand or sit down, and I spent the entire night in a semi-crouching position. By the next morning, I could no longer not endure it. My entire body shivered and shook when I reluctantly signed the documents provided by the police, next to an officer whom I feared would beat me again if I did not cooperate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Tang said his \u201cphysical and mental health suffered tremendous damage\u201d during his two years in prison, including his anguish when he was not allowed to visit his father in the hospital or attend his funeral. Because he was not present at the funeral, he said everyone in his hometown learned he was in prison, and rumors about him \u201coverwhelmed my grieving elderly mother and nearly broke her spirit.\u201d His sister, wife, and son also suffered in his absence.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>\u201cHengyang Foxconn is the source of all of this suffering. My father always taught me that I should be a good person, and because I followed my heart and believed that justice should be served, I reported the serious violations at Hengyang Foxconn. Yet my imprisonment has caused such great harm to me and my family!\u201d he wrote to Bezos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Tang told Bezos he was a \u201cloyal admirer\u201d of the billionaire Amazon founder, quoting, in turn, Bezos\u2019 public admiration for \u201cpeople who fight hard for their beliefs and try hard.\u201d He said he saw himself following Bezos\u2019 example by blowing the whistle on Foxconn.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAs your faithful admirer, as a former employee of your company\u2019s client, as a victim, a son, a husband, and a father, I hope you can understand and pay attention to what happened to me. I would also like to ask you here: Can you ask Hengyang Foxconn to face up to its own problems and to compensate and apologize to me?\u201d Tang asked Bezos.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAs the only customer of Foxconn in Hengyang, I hope that you will ask Foxconn in Hengyang to communicate with the local court and assist me in my complaint about the case so that the court can finally revoke my guilty verdict!\u201d he concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Sunday, Tang <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2022\/jan\/30\/alexa-factory-whistleblower-i-was-tortured-and-jailed-now-amazon-should-apologise\">discussed<\/a> his letter to Bezos with the <\/span><i><span>Observer<\/span><\/i><i><span>, <\/span><\/i><span>a weekly published by the UK <\/span><i><span>Guardian <\/span><\/i><span>that began investigating the Hengyang Foxconn factory alongside CLW in 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think Amazon should give me an explanation; tell me if I really deserve to be sent to jail? If not, Amazon should give me an apology, along with its partner, Foxconn, to assist me in appealing for redress, and provide compensation,\u201d Tang told the newspaper.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10074387\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1036093544.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10074387 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1036093544.jpg\" alt=\"Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos provides the keynote address at the Air Force Association&#039;s Annual Air, Space &amp; Cyber Conference in Oxen Hill, MD, on September 19, 2018. (Photo by Jim WATSON \/ AFP) (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON\/AFP\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos provides the keynote address at the Air Force Association\u2019s Annual Air, Space &amp; Cyber Conference in Oxen Hill, MD, on September 19, 2018. (Photo by JIM WATSON\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The <\/span><i><span>Observer <\/span><\/i><span>believed Foxconn identified Tang as the whistleblower by reviewing security camera footage from the factory. Tang said that before he was arrested, \u201che saw a foreigner whom he believed to be one of the Amazon staff going through his desk drawer and checking the pockets of his uniform on his chair.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The <\/span><i><span>Observer <\/span><\/i><span>followed up with Amazon on Tang\u2019s letter. An Amazon spokesperson refused to answer specific questions about the case but insisted the company does not \u201ctolerate violations of our supply chain standards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe regularly assess suppliers, using independent auditors as appropriate, to monitor continued compliance and improvement,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cIf we find violations, we take appropriate steps, including requesting immediate corrective action.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>CLW director Li Qiang told the <\/span><i><span>Observer <\/span><\/i><span>he also wrote to Bezos urging him to help Tang but received no response from either Bezos or Amazon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cCLW believes that Amazon has the responsibility to call for China to free this innocent volunteer, who provided the evidence of labor violations in an Amazon supplier factory and thank him for helping improving workers\u2019 conditions. All he did was report violations of workers\u2019 rights in an Amazon supplier factory. He did not commit any illegal acts,\u201d Li argued.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt is unacceptable and unfair that Tang Mingfang is serving jail time for trying to help Amazon improve the labor conditions in its supplier factory,\u201d he declared.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forty-three-year-old Tang Mingfang was arrested in 2019 for giving documents to a human rights group that showed a Foxconn factory in China was using child labor for manufacturing Echo and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1262359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1262359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1262359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1262359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1262359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1262359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}