Threat to Business in China
Samsung Electronics cut its relationship with a Chinese business partner suspected of the illegal hiring of children.
The Chinese company in question is Dongguan Shinyang Electronics, which is located in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. Samsung Electronics announced the news on July 14 on its official blog Samsung Tomorrow, reconfirming its zero tolerance of child labor. Samsung is planning to make the action permanent if any illegality is found out through a final investigation by the Chinese authorities.
The electronics manufacturer has inspected the labor environments of its Chinese partners since March of last year. The suspicion relating to Dongguan Shinyang Electronics was raised during its fourth investigation on the company covering the period after June 29 this year.
Samsung’s hard-line stance has to do with the recent international trend for stronger sanctions on child labor abuse. For instance, the United States has compelled all listed companies to submit reports disclosing the sites of mineral production to the SEC since May. This is to prevent the use of conflict minerals such as tungsten, tin, and tantalum that are mined in troubled regions in Africa. The European Union has imposed high tariffs and import bans on the agricultural and livestock products and clothes produced in Africa and Latin America as well, so as to block the import of goods produced by child labor.
In the meantime, the Washington Post quoted the Child Labor Watch (CLW), a human rights group headquartered in New York, on July 10 (local time) to report that five workers aged below 16 worked illegally in Dongguan Shinyang Electronics’s factory. According to the report, a CLW activist snuck into the factory to interview the juveniles and file a report on their working conditions and environment.