Intel Apologizes To China Over Supplier Advice vs Xinjiang Labor

US microchip maker Intel has apologized following a backlash over its letter urging suppliers not to source products or labor from China's Xinjiang region, BBC reported.

Photo Insert: The letter said Intel had been "required to ensure" by the US government and other Western that its supply chain did not use labor or source goods from Xinjiang.

The company's letter sparked criticism in China, with calls for a boycott encouraged by state media, CNN also reported, as Beijing said 20% of Intel’s profit comes from the Chinese market but did not admit that Intel played a key role in teaching the Chinese how to make microprocessors.

In a Chinese-language statement on its official WeChat and Weibo accounts, Intel said that its commitment to avoid supply chains from Xinjiang was an expression of compliance with US law, rather than a statement of its position on the issue.

The letter said Intel had been "required to ensure" by the US government and other Western that its supply chain did not use labor or source goods from Xinjiang. Intel stressed that companies violating the policy would be subjected to sanctions.

China has been accused of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, charges that Beijing had not been able to adequately disprove.

The region is home to many of the country's Muslim Uyghur population and there have been allegations of forced labor and possibly genocide. In December last year, the BBC published an investigation based on new research showing China was forcing hundreds of thousands of minorities, including Uyghurs, into manual labour in Xinjiang's cotton fields.

Reuters, the Associated Press (AP), and Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) also reported such abuses.

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