[Photo: The Washington Post]
Employees at the world’s biggest Apple iPhone factory have been beaten and detained in protests over contract disputes amid anti-virus controls, according to employees and videos posted on social media.
Videos on Chinese social media that were reportedly filmed at the factory in the central city of Zhengzhou, showed thousands of people in masks facing rows of police in white protective suits with plastic riot shields.
The footage showed one person being hit in the head with a club, another taken away with his arms held behind his back, and protesters spraying fire extinguishers at police.
The rare scenes of open dissent in China mark an escalation of unrest at the massive factory in Zhengzhou city that has come to symbolize a dangerous build-up in frustration with the country’s ultra-harsh COVID rules, as well as inept handling of the situation by the world’s largest contract manufacturer.
