Apple Inc. recently instructed its Taiwanese suppliers to re-label their products “Made in Taiwan” as opposed to “Made in China.” The company cited concerns of products being fined or rejected as they pass through Chinese shipment centers. “Taiwan, however, requires exports to be labeled according to their origin, meaning the products would clearly state, ‘Made […]
Apple Inc. recently instructed its Taiwanese suppliers to re-label their products “Made in Taiwan” as opposed to “Made in China.” The company cited concerns of products being fined or rejected as they pass through Chinese shipment centers.
"Taiwan, however, requires exports to be labeled according to their origin, meaning the products would clearly state, 'Made in Taiwan' or 'Made in the Republic of China'” explains The Post Millennial.
Apple was all too eager to immediately comply with the new regulations and force Taiwan to abandon its values, rather than seeking out alternative solutions or shipment methods. This is a blatant example of how massive tech companies are and have been in bed with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), despite their well-known numerous atrocities and human rights violations. Apple is willing to throw the people of Taiwan under the bus if it prevents them from upsetting the government of the CCP.
But why does the product labeling really matter all that much? What does this have to do with the Taiwanese core values?
Simply put, China does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and Taiwan believes that it is. After the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist Army (later named the Republic of China) fled to the island of Taiwan. Taiwan, controlled by the Republic of China, was in some ways an ally of the U.S. — this is where it gets a bit more complicated.
Nancy Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan
Despite multiple warnings against the visit from the Biden Administration Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi touched down in Taiwan. In response to Pelosi’s visit, a very angered China sent military personnel to run “air and sea” exercises around the island of Taiwan, and released multiple statements harshly condemning the Speaker’s visit.
Pelosi claims she had reason to visit, even at a time when tensions between the U.S. and China are nearing an all-time high. Reading from the Post Millennial report:
“Pelosi gave a statement on the Congressional Delegation's visit to Taiwan, saying that the visit ‘honors America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant Democracy.’ The statement notes that this is the first official visit to Taiwan by a Speaker of the US House in 25 years.”
Pelosi, however, is very likely using Taiwan as a pawn, manipulating the country’s predicament for her own personal gain.
The Speaker of the House does not possess the capacity to speak on behalf of the overall American Foreign Policy, far from it actually. Her obligation is, first and foremost, is to represent the state of California. Pelosi however, happens to represent the 12th Congressional District for California, which is where a portion of Silicon Valley is located.
Pelosi and her husband were invested in Nvidia, purchasing 25,000 shares originally, as well as 50, $100 call options. Her husband dumped the 25,000 shares, which caused a loss of $342,050 — Nancy Pelosi was very quick to disclose the information. Business Insider even states: “This disclosure of a financial loss is notable because Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, rarely volunteers such detailed information about her husband's stock and stock option trades.”
Pelosi however, did not mention the call options that she still retains:
The Twitter account Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker — an account fully dedicated to investigating and sourcing the Speaker’s movement in the market — claims that in order for Pelosi to break even on her losses, she would have to exercise her remaining call options and purchase the 5,000 shares, and NVIDIA would also have to hit $266 per share. Lucky for her, Congress recently passed the CHIPS-Plus Bill, a $54 billion bill for microchip manufacturing and research. According to Business Insider, NVIDIA just so happens to be one of many companies that requested this bill’s passage from Congress.
While visiting the country, Pelosi visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — which just so happens to have recently become the sole supplier for guess who? Yep, NVIDIA. How ironic.
The Pelosi family has been smoothly operating in Congress for decades, gaining massive sums of wealth off of insider information, and using taxpayer funding and a false premise to visit a country for their own personal gain.
Crazy how that works, right?
Pelosi’s facade of supporting Taiwan’s freedom and independence was just that, a facade — as proven by her recent comments, praising China for maintaining one of the “freest” societies. Just like Apple Inc., she has been soft on China for years. As long as it lines their pockets, the elites will always be willing to sell out anyone necessary. It is despicable.
This however, was not simply another time Pelosi betrayed the American people in her policy, actions, or allocation of tax-payer funds. By making the bold statements she did, she not only undermined the sitting President’s foreign policy and Department of Defense’s stance on Taiwan, she also put the region in a horrible predicament, and raised tensions between the island and the mainland. Of course, many believe it is only a matter of time before a second civil war erupts between the two factions, however Pelosi’s actions could very well have accelerated the timeline.
Pelosi’s selfish and ill-timed visit caused heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, and could very well have led to the CCP requiring all labels on Taiwanese exports to claim they were “Made in China.” Greed is the probable cause behind this domino-like sequence of events, and will unfortunately have very real consequences.
Big Tech’s Biggest Concern
Companies such as Apple that manufacture multiple products in Taiwan have implemented the new labeling policies for the very same reason that the Pelosi’s momentarily became the largest advocates for Taiwan’s independence: financial motive.
The Post Millennial reported: “‘Penalties for violating such a rule is a fine of up to 4,000 yuan ($592) or, in the worst-case scenario, the shipment being rejected,’ which caused Apple to request the label change.”
Apple, Pelosi, and all of Silicon Valley as a whole truly are motivated solely by the financial prospect. Apple is willing to comply with the CCP’s demands in a heartbeat if it means they will be liberated from having to pay minor fines, or worse, have delays in their distribution of product.
One would hope that the hassle and criticism these megacorporations have to navigate through might be enough to incentivize more companies to return to manufacturing their products in America — but current U.S. policy incomprehensibly makes it less expensive for companies to obtain products manufactured across the globe than it is to produce them here at home.
China already makes up 18% of our imported goods, which is more than we import from any other country. Let that sink in. Why should we not pursue strategies that limit the amount of money we send to a growing, Communist, global superpower?
Though we are living through a Presidential Administration that doesn’t value American exceptionalism or American-made, it is imperative that Americans stay vigilant and send their support to candidates over the next two years who will build up our manufacturing infrastructure once again. If we can accomplish that, the next time Apple calls for a re-labeling of their products, it could finally say, “Made in America.”
