On December 23 last year, Intel, one of the world’s biggest semiconductor firms, presented a beautiful Christmas gift to Beijing. It was an apology to the people of China for having instructed its suppliers not to source anything from the country’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Of course, Intel’s apology was not entirely voluntary. It had been directed not to buy anything in Xinjiang by the U.S. government as part of Washington’s sanctions linked to what some have described as a form of genocide being directed by Beijing against the Muslim Uyghur people.
There had be no demand for an apology from Beijing or the Chinese Communist Party. Instead, a “spontaneous” outpouring of anger towards Intel had erupted on Weibo (a popular but censored social media site) so virulently that Intel felt compelled to apologize for not aiding and embracing the genocide of the Uyghurs. If this sounds like George Orwell’s 1984, that is because it is.
When I first read of the
Subscribe or login to read the rest.
Subscribers get full access to:
- Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
- A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
- A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our
Subscriptions page for details.