The students, some as young as 17 years old, have little choice but to comply; the only other option is to drop out of school where many are on vocational courses, the report said. The students were informed on June 17 and were told that they must be ready to leave for Shenzhen nine days later, the report said.

The internship program appears to be part of an effort by the Chinese government to bring industrial manufacturing to the relatively undeveloped Henan. Reportedly Foxconn plans to eventually employ 300,000 people in Henan bringing its own manufacturing there up to rival its main base in the coastal city of Shenzhen.

Foxconn is the trade name of the Taiwan based firm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (Taipei, Taiwan). The company has been dogged by scandal during 2010, including 13 reported suicide attempts among workers at its Longhua campus. Foxconn manufactures many different products on behalf of Apple as well as cell phones for a number of leading brands and games consoles for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

The company has 800,000 employees in China, including 430,000 in Shenzhen, It said it would increase wages significantly in Shenzhen and stop employing additional people there after the reports of suicides and suicide attempts raised suspicions about working and living conditions.

By: DocMemory
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