After a COVID outbreak caused staff to lock down at the workplace, workers have escaped Apple’s largest iPhone production plant in China.
A video shows people leap a barrier outside the Foxconn manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou, located in China.
President Xi Jinping’s strict zero-COVID policy is still a problem for the Chinese people and economy.
The number of COVID cases at the company is unknown.
According to the Reuters news agency, Zhengzhou, the capital of China’s Henan province, recorded 167 locally transmitted diseases last week, up from 97 the week before.
As China continues to combat COVID, it locked down Tibet. A city of around 10 million people.
With hundreds of thousands of employees at its Zhengzhou site, Foxconn is a supplier to US-based Apple. Apple has not released an official estimate of those affected.
On Sunday, the Taiwan-based corporation asserted that it would not prevent employees from quitting.
However, according to a video posted on Chinese social media and shared by Stephen McDonnell, the BBC’s China reporter, employees abandoned the property and journeyed all the way back to their hometowns to avoid arrests in public transportation.
One employee, identified only as Xia, 22, told the Financial Times that the dormitories where he and his coworkers were housed were “chaos.”
According to the workers, Foxxon has sealed off areas of the plant to contain the spread. While workers who tested positive for COVID were subjected to daily testing and quarantines.
Foxconn prohibited all dine-in catering at the Zhengzhou factory and compelled eat in their rooms.
While the plant scaled up manufacturing of the newest iPhone 14 models, the firm told reporters that “regular production” was being maintained.
Workers demonstrate in Tibet
The video appears to show unusually large-scale protests against the strict COVID-19 regulations in Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet.
Videos posted on social media show large crowds protesting and tussling with police. They are reportedly mostly migrant laborers of the Han Chinese ethnicity.
The city has been in lockdown for almost three months as it fights an illness wave.
One of China’s territories that are most closely guarded is Tibet.
According to reports, the demonstrations began on Wednesday afternoon and continued into the evening.
Even though reports claim Lhasa has detected eight fresh COVID instances. There have been no official statements or state media reports on the protests.
Chinese social media sites have all taken down videos of the incidents. However, searches on Douyin revealed that many people were looking for information about the protest.
Lockdowns in China
Lockdown has been in effect in Lhasa since late August. Since it started, numerous Tibetans have committed suicide, according to rights organizations.
The zero-COVID policy in China has saved lives. Still, it has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s economy and populace, with people becoming weary of lockdowns and travel restrictions.
The demonstration on Wednesday is reportedly the largest the city has witnessed since the revolt in 2008.
Chinese security personnel subjected protesters to violent beating and fatal force back then. Subsequently, Tibet became off-limit to outsiders and authorities deployed solders.
Tibet is an autonomous part of China, and Beijing claims the province has advanced significantly throughout its reign.
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However, rights organizations assert that China still infringes on human rights, charging Beijing with suppression of politics and religion. Beijing disputes any wrongdoing.
