US Senator Marco Rubio has called for government funding of Intel to be pulled, after the company issued an apology to China last month.
In a letter to suppliers, Intel noted it wouldn’t use “labour or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region”, a standard stipulation required by US law. After the letter went viral in China, the company quickly issued an apology and deleted references to Xinjiang on its website.
When questioned about this, Intel said: “We amended some language based on concerns from stakeholders to focus on broadly and globally applicable principles and policies, consistent with our general practice.”
Senator Rubio issued a statement on Monday, calling for Intel to be ineligible for the CHIPS funding.
“Intel’s cowardice is yet another predictable consequence of economic reliance on China,” he wrote.
“Instead of humiliating apologies and self-censorship, companies should move their supply chains to countries that do not use slave labor or commit genocide. If companies like Intel continue to obscure the facts about US law just to appease the Chinese Communist Party then they should be ineligible for any funding under the CHIPS Act.”