In circumstances that Taipei has characterized as “strange,” Chinese police have detained four employees of Foxconn, a Taiwanese manufacturer of iPhones.
According to a statement released by Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, the employees were taken into custody in Zhengzhou in the province of Henan on suspicion of “breach of trust.”
Foxconn has been contacted by the BBC for comment.
One of the largest employers in the world, the company has major manufacturing facilities in China and is the largest manufacturer of iPhones for US technology giant Apple.
The detentions may have been caused by “abuse of power” by Chinese police, according to Taiwanese authorities, who also stated that the case undermines the confidence of Chinese businesses.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that they were unaware of the situation.
China’s tax and land authorities began an investigation into the company in October of last year.
Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, was running for president of Taiwan as an independent at the time.
Taiwan has encouraged its residents to “stay away from trivial travel” to the central area as well as Hong Kong and Macau after China uncovered rules in June itemizing criminal disciplines for what Beijing depicted as fanatic “Taiwan freedom” separatists.
The largest iPhone manufacturing facility in the world is Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility, which is commonly referred to as “iPhone City.”
Foxconn is one of many Taiwanese companies that has built factories in China, despite the long-standing geopolitical divide that exists between Beijing and Taipei.
Beijing has not ruled out the possibility of using force to gain control of the island, which it views as a breakaway province that will eventually become part of the country.
However, the majority of Taiwanese favor maintaining the status quo in which Taiwan neither declares independence from China nor unites with it, even though many of them believe that they are a part of a separate nation.
