Intel's letter was published on December 16, the same day the US Senate passed legislation banning imports from the Xinjiang region because of concerns about forced labour and the largest incarceration of an ethno-religious minority since the fall of the Third Reich.
The article points out that, in an interesting role reversal, Chinese companies rely on Intel chips in about eighty percent of the desktop computers it manufactures. However these sales also account for around a quarter of Intel's global revenue. So another morally compromised Western corporation bows the knee, citing a new US law banning sourcing from Xinjiang, but issuing a groveling apology anyway: "We deeply apologize for the confusion caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public..." and claiming it only acted to comply with US law and did not represent the company's position on Xinjiang.
In a letter to global suppliers, dated this month and published in several languages on its website, Intel called on its business partners to steer clear of the remote northwestern region of China, noting that “multiple governments have imposed restrictions on products sourced from the Xinjiang region. Therefore, Intel is required to ensure our supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region.”
Even though its guidance was little changed from what the company previously told suppliers, by midweek the letter had been singled out by irate Chinese social-media users and a nationalist state-run tabloid, denouncing Intel’s unwillingness to conduct business involving Xinjiang.
On Thursday, the Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker said its letter was written only to comply with U.S. law and didn’t represent Intel’s stance on Xinjiang.
“We deeply apologize for the confusion caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public,” Intel said in its statement, which was posted on its social-media platforms in China. Intel didn’t specify which law it was seeking to comply with.
The incident is the latest example of multinational companies caught in the middle as Western governments pressure companies to disentangle their supply chains from Xinjiang. Sportswear company Adidas AG and fast-fashion giant H&M Hennes and Mauritz AB are among those that have run afoul of social-media users in China. Those that have apologized to Chinese consumers, meanwhile, risk a backlash from lawmakers and consumers back home.
The Intel letter was published in the U.S. on Dec. 16, the same day that the U.S. Senate passed legislation banning imports from the Xinjiang region over concerns about the use of forced labor. President Biden signed the bill, titled the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, into law on Thursday.