Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Currently Apple Inc. and even the deceased Steve Jobs have come under criticism and fire because of the fact that several of Apple's products are being made at one of Foxconn's many factories in China; the factory in question is one that has grown notorious for a recent spate of suicides among its workers. Many are thus wondering and critiquing Apple's business practices. "Apple should be boycotted," shout some critics. "Apple needs to clean up its act," say others. They question how can such a modern company like Apple so callously profit from this seeming exploitation of workers. Yet while this questioning is going on, we also hear a completely different voice. Economic gurus continue to chant the mantra, "Run to China." Supposedly that is the prime place where the money can be made; factories there can churn out products at a faster rate; their workers are more pliant in meeting extreme deadlines, and China makes it easy to come and set up shop. Does no one see the contradictory cross-purposes developing here?

The Chinese government has detained several hundred Tibetans returning from India after attending teaching sessions overseen by the Dalai Lama and is forcing them to undergo political re-education, a human rights group said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said it believed it was the first time since the late 1970s that the authorities had detained Tibetan laypeople in such large numbers and it comes as China frets about unrest in Tibetan parts of the country.