Taiwancorpwatch

[quote] First Blood Diamonds, Now Blood Computers?A new report by Global Witness

A new report by Global Witness, entitled ‘Faced with a gun, what can you do?’, details how companies are buying from suppliers who trade in minerals from the warring parties. Many mining areas in eastern DRC are controlled by rebels and the national army, who violently exploit civilians to retain access to valuable minerals, including cassiterite (tin ore), coltan and gold. Cassiterite and coltan are used to make mobile phones, computers and other electronics, among other things.

European and Asian companies, including Bangkok-based THAISARCO (a subsidiary of British metals group AMC), UK-based Afrimex, and Belgium-based Trademet have been buying minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that are funding armed groups and fuelling conflict, said Global Witness in a report published today.

Link to the report and additional documents at the Global Witness site.

“Despite recent political and military developments, including the apparent rapprochement between the DRC and Rwanda, violence against unarmed civilians is continuing and countless lives are lost each day. All the warring parties in the DRC are systematically using forced labour and violent extortion in mining areas,” said Patrick Alley, Director of Global Witness.

“It is not good enough for companies to say they buy only from licensed exporters, when they know full well that their middlemen buy from armed groups. The failure of governments to hold companies to account, of Burundi and Rwanda to restrict the trade across their borders, and of donors and diplomats to address explicitly the role of the mineral trade, have all contributed to the continuation of a conflict that has killed millions and displaced many more.”

Global Witness is calling for the following actions:

• Companies trading in minerals from the DRC should carry out thorough due diligence to ensure that they are not funding warring parties;
• The DRC and other governments should cut off warring parties’ access to the mines and to international trade routes and external networks;
• Home governments should hold to account their companies for involvement in the illicit mineral trade from DRC.

Environmental Groups’ Statement on Acer’s CSR

1.          If the Acer Group commits to pursue subtantive corporate social responsibility (CSR), we will support this policy as we believe that all companies, local and global, should adopt and implement codes of CSR.

2.          As a CSR practitioner Acer should deploy the codes to its supplier chain to secure the integrity of the CSR. Otherwise it is simply outsourcing the pollution and human rights abuses to its suppliers.

3.          The Longtan plants of AUO (AU Optronics) and CPT (Chunghua Picture Tubes) have seriously polluted the Xiaoli River for years. This environmental tragedy  has resulted in poisoning of the local peoples neighborhood and  deprivation of their basic human right to clean water, rights that the people have enjoyed for that generations.  Acer must demonstrate zero tolerance for this sort of behavior by its suppliers if anyone is going to take it’s claims of CSR seriously.

4.          Acer, by keeping AUO and CPT on its supplier, betrays its claims of CSR integrity. Until Acer comes forth with a complete explanation and removes the polluters and human rights violators from its supply chain, Acer can make no credible claims to practice CSR.

 

Only when  the Acer Group establishes and implements substantive measures for its members and suppliers to become socially responsible corporations will there be a basis for dialogue with environmental groups.

 

 

Environmental Groups

The Green Consumers’ Foundation, Green Opinion Workshop,

Taiwan Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Hsinchu Foundation, Taiwancorpwatch….

World's Largest Christmas Tree to Solve All of Taiwan's Problems

According to this Taiwan News article, "a foreign-ventured local company has launched an ambitious campaign to market Taiwan to the world by turning its landmark Taipei 101 into the world's biggest Christmas tree." (Note: We didn't realize trees were made of concrete, glass and streel.)

The article continues:

"We want to make the whole world know about Taiwan, and Christmas is something that everybody cares about, whether one is Christian or not (emphasis ours)," Elias Ek, president of telemarketing company Enspyre, told CNA in a telephone interview.

"Tapping into the whole Christmas theme, Taiwan will be able to really connect to people around the world, " said Ek, who is also co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei's small- and medium-sized enterprises center.

It will only cost US$12 million and investing companies will get the right to advertise, which, of course, is all in the spirit of Christmas.

"This is a project that should be carried out and we are looking forward to getting it done, " Ek said, adding that the project is seeking for an investment of roughly NT$400 million (US$12 million) from 25 companies, all of whom will obtain in return the right to advertise on the exterior of Taipei 101.

We wonder what the thousands of people who have lost their jobs on the island recently will think about their employers spending millions to advertise on a Christmas tree. We aren't sure, but there must be some heartwarming Christmas story in all of this.