this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2024
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Public outrage is mounting in China over allegations that a major state-owned food company has been cutting costs by using the same tankers to carry fuel and cooking oil – without cleaning them in between.

The scandal, which implicates China’s largest grain storage and transport company Sinograin, and private conglomerate Hopefull Grain and Oil Group, has raised concerns of food contamination in a country rocked in recent decades by a string of food and drug safety scares – and evoked harsh criticism from Chinese state media.

It was an “open secret” in the transport industry that the tankers were doing double duty, according to a report in the state-linked outlet Beijing News last week, which alleged that trucks carrying certain fuel or chemical liquids were also used to transport edible liquids such as cooking oil, syrup and soybean oil, without proper cleaning procedures.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (3 children)

It's a shame when China takes things more seriously than the western world.

Like, a there's a million reasons to hate them, but how they deal with companies endangering lives isn't one of them.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Kind of. It depends on how egregious it is. Companies endangering lives by pitting melamine in mile - jail. Foxconn endangering lives by overworking people in work camps - 👨‍🦯

But I definitely give you that some of the more egregious cases are taken more seriously than in the west.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Oh, Foxconn again. a) Suicide rates of Foxconn workers match that of Mainland university students (and is way lower than the overall average but that would compare the young often male workers against elderly rural ladies) and b) it's a Taiwanese company.

Don't get me wrong though they're still awful but they're not that awful. Also they're pulling out of China, wages are getting too high.

[–] FlyingSquid 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Suicide rates of Foxconn workers match that of Mainland university students (and is way lower than the overall average but that would compare the young often male workers against elderly rural ladies)

I like how you think that's somehow a defense of Foxconn and not showing that it sucks to live in China overall.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Not really. 14 in a year out of 1m employees makes a rate of 1.4/100k let's see how that number compares to WHO statistics. Armenia has a rate of 1.4 in the 25-34 age range, and it's the second lowest. China average in that group is 5.9.

What you're looking it is the suicide rate of people of a population which thinks it has a future: Students got into university, kids from poor villages made it into Foxconn to make money -- yes, minimum wage, but they're making money. Their alternative would be working on the family farm for much less than that (though including room and board). Or work in construction, a much more physically demanding and dangerous job. There's not many options in China for rural people.

There's a fucking fuckton to criticise about Foxconn not to speak of China or tankies or capitalists in general. This isn't one of those things. On the contrary, focussing in on a false narrative detracts from actual issues such as worker's safety, forced overtime, the right-out military company culture, etc. When did you last hear about those things? Did you hear about them, ever? Nah, it's always the suicides.

[–] FlyingSquid 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I'm pretty sure less than 14 people in a year jumped off of Google's headquarters.

(Insert virtually any other non-Chinese corporation or factory not located in China in Google's place.)

I'm also pretty sure Google didn't have to install suicide nets.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Google isn't the equivalent to Foxconn. It would be more like Ford or some Detroit automaker.

[–] FlyingSquid 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Which one of them has suicide nets?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

NYU and Cornell have done so

Google has had suicides, but no prevention schemes

The real answer is that the Detroit car factories aren't tall enough to kill anyone. People pick more practical locations like Hudson Yards or the Golden Gate Bridge.

[–] FlyingSquid 1 points 5 months ago

One post ago:

Google isn’t the equivalent to Foxconn. It would be more like Ford or some Detroit automaker.

This post:

NYU and Cornell have done so

Are NYU and Cornell like Ford or some Detroit automaker? Otherwise, I'm pretty sure you're defeating your own point.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Google doesn't have a million employees. It also doesn't have company barracks, if a google engineer wants to off themselves they're probably going to do it at home or on the Bay Bridge, not at headquarters. Where you probably can't open the windows on the upper floors.

But if you can find suicide rates of google employees -- not just on-site, but overall, I'm all ear. You can look at literally any population, it's never going to be zero.

[–] FlyingSquid 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It also doesn’t have company barracks

What? You mean other corporations don't require their employees to sleep at their jobs?!

But I'm sure that can't possibly have anything to do with mental illness leading to suicide, hence all the suicide nets on the buildings of all of those other factories. Oh wait.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

As far as I'm aware it's not a requirement. They're there to make money and the company barracks are cheap. Students in the US also aren't required to live in dormitories, but more often than not they do.

[–] FlyingSquid 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sorry... are you comparing student dorms with factory barracks? What shithole college did you go to?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm not American. I lived in a flat when studying. From what I've heard you can't even cook in US student dorms that'd be an absolute no-go for me. Also, roommates are required and you get no choice in who that's going to be.

But maybe a better comparison would be to bunks on an oil rig... with the difference that Foxconn workers aren't required to sleep in barracks, they're free to sleep elsewhere. No such option on an oil rig. You also see temporary accommodation on larger construction sites. Or farmers offering bunk-beds to seasonal workers.

[–] FlyingSquid 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, you're now comparing permanent living conditions to temporary accommodations? Accommodations which are actually nicer than what Foxconn provides?

Oil rig living quarters:

Foxconn living quarters:

Yes, practically the same.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

People don't work long at Foxconn. Poor, rural Chinese get a job at those kinds of places to have money to settle down somewhere else, to open a small business, to re-invest into the family farm, whatnot. They're thinking "I need this and this much money to open a noodle shop, if I live in barracks It's going to take me X months to have the money together, if I rent an apartment X+Y months", and then they do it.

The whole migratory worker thing is a Chinese phenomenon, feel free to criticise it but most of that criticism should be directed at the CCP who are under-investing into rural areas at the expense of a couple of big, centralised, developments.

Also how often do I have to repeat "employees are not required to live in barracks" until you acknowledge it. In fact, I'm going to answer nothing but that until you say it in your own words.

How much is tuition in that place the dorm picture is from? I bet just living in the dorms is more than Chinese minimum wage.

[–] FlyingSquid -1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I like how you just disregard everything that you are saying that turns out not to be true as if you never said it.

Here's something about their "voluntarily" staying in those barracks:

Xu and his friend were both walk-on recruits, though not necessarily willing ones. “They call Foxconn a fox trap,” he says. “Because it tricks a lot of people.” He says Foxconn promised them free housing but then forced them to pay exorbitantly high bills for electricity and water. The current dorms sleep eight to a room and he says they used to be 12 to a room. But Foxconn would shirk social insurance and be late or fail to pay bonuses. And many workers sign contracts that subtract a hefty penalty from their pay if they quit before a three-month introductory period.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract

Quite the choice they're given there. Bunkers with eight to a room or bills they can't afford to pay.

I can't wait for you to ignore this like you've ignored everything else. Or maybe you'll dismiss this as Western imperialist propaganda?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Yes. That's one of the things you can criticise Foxconn for. Do it. Though they're certainly not the only company in China who are fucking over employees, making false or misleading promises, etc. China does not have rule of law, grease some party hands and you can get away with a hell a lot of illegal behaviour.

Also where in that article does it say that Foxconn would force people to live in the barracks. Not paying workers properly is one thing, actual slave labour, keeping people against their will etc. will cause the party to crack down on your operation, hard. Only they are allowed to do that.

Or maybe you’ll dismiss this as Western imperialist propaganda?

Do you take me for a tankie? Count the number me and you criticised the CCP in this thread and compare, please.

[–] FlyingSquid 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Do you understand what a false choice is? The choice is either live in the barracks or pay bills they can't afford to pay.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Foxconn is not the municipal water supplier, the one you'd be dealing with if you don't live in those barracks. Those high water bills are if you live in the "free" barracks, i.e. they're fooling people into thinking the barracks are free (yay! I can keep all of my wages!) and then they're getting billed for the shower by the litre or something. It's scummy but TBH also quintessentially Chinese. Their roommates are probably telling them they're stupid for believing Foxconn.

And if minimum wage doesn't suffice to have your own regular apartment, with non-extortionary water prices -- well, complain with the CCP. Though, I have to add as a smug European, working full-time and not being able to make rent is also very much a thing in the US.

[–] FlyingSquid 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I knew the "whatabouts" would start eventually.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Well, I wouldn't want to live in China or the US. Heck even visit. They're both bad in their own ways, and also bad in very similar ways, in particular completely rampant capitalism.

[–] victorz 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm on the fence about whether it matters or not, that they might only do so to politically save face. ⚖️

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

At least they save face... Wouldn't mind some more face saving over here.

[–] victorz 2 points 5 months ago

Where is "over here" for you?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

If all you save is face, THEN YOU HAVE SAVED NOTHING. What do you mean we don't do this over here, this is all we fucking do. We don't solve problems, we just market them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I can't recall any other countries executing their rich for things like this. Can you?

Especially in the west. In the west they just take a part of their profits as a trivial fine.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I can't have a conversation with someone advocating murder and wondering why I'm not impressed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Advocating the death penalty for people who've committed mass social murder is not murder.

White collar crime like this is the only case where the death penalty might be useful, since these people actually do a risk-benefit analysis.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

the flip side is they tend to take court cases involving individuals less seriously. Rulings are designed to be done in a quick manner and reletively speaking, cam be harsh with sentences. Culturally they care more for someone possibly related(but not guaranteed to be) get punished over verifying if said person is actually guilty of something.

its a system thats good if said perpetrator is caught fast, but terrible for the person who just happened to be there at the wrong time if a perp gets away.

tl;dr swift justice, but dont take as many precautions on whether they got the right person or not.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

China just straight up doesn't prosecute if they don't have to, and when they do it's typically following a civil law system that's generally easier to prosecute than common law. It's the same reason why Japan has a prosecution success rate of over 99.8%.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Japan has a rate that high because MacArthur was a quasi-fascist who half assed reconstruction and they don't have the judicial concept of innocent until proven guilty.