It seems that Apple supplier Foxconn is so terrified of
Steve Jobs that it is resorting to heavy tactics to protect his security.
The outfit which paid the family of one of its employees
$44,000 after he mysteriously committed suicide after an interview with Foxconn
security over some missing iPhone prototypes has now been accused of beating up
journalists. Tipped by a worker outside the Longhua complex that a
nearby Foxconn plant was manufacturing parts for Apple too, the hack visited to
the facility in Guanlan, which makes products for a range of companies.
While he stood on the public road taking photos of the
front gate and security checkpoint, a guard shouted at him. When the hack tried
to leave in a taxi the guard blocked the vehicle and ordered the driver to
stop. He said that if he did not stop then Foxconn would take
away his taxi license. The correspondent got out and insisted he was within his
rights as he was on the main road. The guard grabbed his arm. A second guard
ran over, and with a crowd of Foxconn workers watching, they tried dragging him
into the factory.
The reporter asked to be let go. When that didn't happen,
he jerked himself free and started walking off. The guard kicked him in the
leg, while the second threatened to hit him again if he moved. A Foxconn security car came along but the reporter
refused to board it and called the cops. When the coppers arrived the guards apologized and the
matter was settled. The reporter left without filing a complaint, though the
police gave him the option of doing so.
The copper shrugged that while the reporter had not
broken the law Foxconn had a special status here.
More
here.