China’s embassy in Madagascar yesterday expressed shock at a deadly riot involving local workers at a Chinese-run sugar plant and criticized the island nation’s government for failing to protect Chinese interests.
The statement came three days after local workers clashed with local security forces, leaving two people dead, before they allegedly looted the sugar plant in Morondava.
The embassy said that Chinese workers evacuated the factory because of fears for their safety.
“We hope the Madagascar government will take necessary measures to properly handle the attack at the Morondava sugar plant and to erase the ill impact this incident has brought to the country’s international image and its ability to attract foreign investments to create a good environment for Madagascar to cooperate with China and other countries,” the statement said.
Madagascan Prime Minister Roger Kolo and Minister of Economy and Industry Jules Etienne Rolland have pledged to try to resolve the situation.
The labor protest started when the plant’s seasonal workers demanded contracts that offer better pay and better conditions, according to reports.
The Chinese embassy said the requests were unreasonable and that the workers began to block the factory early last month, cutting off utilities, harassing other employees and sabotaging equipment.
The confrontation escalated after Madagascan security forces arrested two strike leaders.
On Wednesday, about 500 workers rushed to a base of the security forces to demand the release of their colleagues and police fired tear gas and live ammunition, the Madagascar Tribune reported. Two people died. Police said they were acting in self-defense because some workers had guns and machetes.
Beijing’s official China News Service said the workers were armed with axes, slingshots and rocks.
Rioters then converged on the factory, looted its sugar supply and set fire to a building. Some carried bags of sugar on their backs or in carts and wheelbarrows and some of it was quickly sold on the illegal market, reports said.
China is Africa’s largest trading partner, but closer ties have resulted in sometimes violent labor disputes.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS