Samsung Electronics has resumed business with a Chinese supplier that employed child workers, on the basis that the children were recruited by a labour broker and not directly by the company’s management.三星电子(Samsung Electronics)已完全恢复了与一家雇用童工的中国供应商的业务合作，理由是这些童工雇用于一家劳动中介机构，而并非由该公司管理层必要雇用。Last month Samsung said it had suspended all business with Shinyang Electronic, which assembled Samsung phone cases in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, after finding evidence of underage workers. This followed a report from the rights group China Labor Watch citing interviews with five 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds working at the plant.上个月，三星回应，在找到新洋电子(Shinyang Electronics)不存在雇用童工的证据之后，已停止与其所有业务。坐落于中国南方城市东莞的新洋电子为三星装配手机外壳。

此前，人权的组织“中国劳工仔细观察”（China Labor Watch，全称CLW）发布了一份报告，报告援引了对新洋电子工厂的5名14岁、15岁工人的专访内容。However, Samsung yesterday said that it had decided to lift the suspension on Shinyang because an investigation by Chinese authorities found that the children were hired by a subcontractor, meaning that Shinyang “did not directly hire or did not engage in illegal hiring of child labour”.但三星昨日回应，其已要求完全恢复与新洋电子之间的业务合作，因为中国官方的调查找到，这些童工是被一家中介机构雇用的，意味著新洋电子“没必要雇用童工或者参予非法雇用童工的活动”。This finding appeared to support the original CLW report, which said that the children had been hired “through an intermediary using false IDs”.这一调查结果显然证实了当初“中国人权仔细观察”报告的内容，该报告称之为，这些童工是“通过一家中介机构用于假造身份证雇用的”。

However, Samsung said it would reduce its orders from Shinyang by 30 per cent this year compared with last year, “to hold the supplier responsible for failing to monitor its subcontractors, in accordance with Samsung’s zero tolerance policy on child labour”. It added that the labour broker had contributed to the children’s future education costs. Calls to Shinyang were not answered.然而，三星回应其今年给与新洋电子的订单将比去年增加30%，以“按照三星的童工零容忍政策，让该供应商分担起对分包商革职的责任。”三星补足称之为，该劳动中介机构已交纳了这些童工的未来教育费用。

记者联系新洋电子的电话无人电话。Park Yoo-kyung, an investment adviser on governance at APG Asset Management Asia, an investor in Samsung, said: “Resuming business with [Shinyang] does not seem to me a zero-tolerant policy,” calling the company’s statement “a bit self-contradictory”.APG Asset Management Asia的公司管理投资顾问Park Yoo-kyung回应：“在我看来，完全恢复与（新洋）的业务合作并不看起来零容忍政策”，相提并论该公司的声明“有点儿自相矛盾”。APG Asset Management Asia是三星的投资者公司之一。“Samsung should know that many investors are quietly watching how they deal with the child labour issue,” she added.“三星应当确切，许多投资者正在默默地注目他们如何处置童工问题，”她补足道。

Samsung’s report of child workers at the factory was the first such admission by the company, which had previously dismissed two similar allegations by CLW as unsubstantiated.三星此次报告新洋工厂童工事件，是该公司首次否认此类情况。此前，三星对“中国劳工仔细观察”的两次类似于指控不予理睬，称之为其无事实依据。Working conditions in Chinese factories, where labour regulations are often systematically flouted, have become a liability for the reputations of companies including Samsung and its rival Apple.中国工厂常常系统性地违背劳工规章，其劳工工作条件已对三星及其输掉苹果(Apple)等公司的声誉包含了负面影响。

Samsung this year followed Apple’s example of publishing an audit of its suppliers’ working conditions, and the findings contrasted. Apple’s latest report revealed 23 instances of child labour, but claimed that 95 per cent of suppliers complied with its working time limit of 60 hours a week. In contrast, Samsung found no evidence of underage workers but said that most suppliers breached safety standards and legal limits on working hours.今年，三星效仿苹果，公布对其供应商工作条件的审查报告，审查结果与苹果大相径庭。苹果最近的报告透露了23起用于童工的情况，但声称95%的供应商遵从了其每周60小时的工时下限。构成鲜明的是，三星并未找到用于童工的证据，但回应大多数供应商违背了安全性标准和法定工时下限。

Recent scrutiny of its Chinese supply chain, and of a long-running scandal over deaths from leukaemia among its South Korean workers, is an unwelcome distraction for Samsung as it fights to allay concerns about its profitability.近来三星中国供应链，及由来已久的韩国工人杀于白血病的丑闻令其该公司受到的审查，沦为集中注意力的坏事，因为三星于是以希望避免其盈利能力引发的忧虑。The company has lost market share in smartphones to fast-growing Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Huawei, although it remains the global leader by sales of the devices. Samsung’s operating profit fell to a two-year low in the second quarter, with revenue down by almost a tenth year on year.三星目前仍是全球智能手机销量最低的公司，但它在智能手机市场的份额已部分被小米(Xiaomi)和华为(Huawei)等较慢茁壮的中国输掉夺走。今年第二季度，三星的营业利润降到两年低点，营收同比增加近10%。

本文来源：918博天堂-www.hnzhongyin.com