Wednesday, June 2, 2010
**
Foxconn and China’s Suicide Puzzle
BY MICHAEL R. PHILLIPS
The recent string of suicides
among young workers at the Fox-
conn company in Shenzhen,
China, has been variously inter-
preted as an indictment on ex-
ploitative factory owners; a com-
mentary on the problems of
China’s rapid social change; or a
consequence of newly aggressive
media hyping tragedy and spur-
ring copycats. None of these ex-
planations capture the essence of
this phenomenon.
The Foxconn suicides certainly
seem to call out for some special
explanation. Ten workers have
taken their own lives so far this
year and two others have tried.
Some observers suggest it is a
“suicide cluster,” which occurs
when there are significantly more
suicides in a community over a
specified time than would be nor-
mally expected. While such clus-
ters are uncommon in China, re-
ports from other countries have
identified suicide clusters in
schools, military units and other
closed communities similar to the
“company town” environment at
Foxconn. Most common in adoles-
cents and young adults, there is
always a contagion element to
clusters because the individuals
know each other or have been ex-
posed to prior suicides by per-
sonal communication, the media
or the Internet.
Given that 300,000 people
work at the affected factory, it is
not yet certain whether this string
of suicides rises to the formal sta-
The War on Terror Comes to Punjab
BY FAROOQ HAMEED KHAN
The people of Lahore had only
just recovered from an attack
three months ago that claimed
more than 50 lives when terrorists
struck again last Friday. This time
the perpetrators targeted two
prayer houses of the minority Ah-
madi community, one located in
the elite Model Town and the
other in Gari Shahu near Lahore
Railway Station. The Tehreek-e-
Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed re-
sponsibility for this well-planned
strike that left around 100 wor-
shippers dead and scores injured.
Pakistanis must remain
resolved to wipe out
miltancy at any cost.
The attack must be seen in the
context of the government’s cam-
paign against the TTP, which is an
umbrella organization for terrorist
groups and is loosely affiliated
with al Qaeda. The Pakistan Army
and Air Force are now battling
TTP militants in the Federally Ad-
ministered Tribal Areas. For many
weeks now, jet aircraft and Cobra
helicopter gunships have been
pounding militants’ positions in
the Orakzai Tribal Agency to elim-
inate the remnants of those TTP
fighters who fled the Army’s oper-
ations in other FATA agencies bor-
dering Afghanistan in the last six
months.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
13
OPINION
tistical definition of a cluster, but ships. sive personality traits, and poor suicide prevention. As a first step,
the intense press attention has Another important part of the conflict-resolution skills may be renewed public-health efforts to
certainly promoted the perception story is that China’s overall sui- greater in China than elsewhere. restrict access to means (particu-
of an abnormal increase in sui- cide rate, despite its recent de- Pesticide ingestion is the method larly pesticides), to expand social
cides. The fear is that in this cline, still is somewhat higher employed in about 65% of suicides support networks for persons at
highly charged emotional atmo- than that reported in most high- and about 27% of attempted sui- high risk of suicide, and to con-
sphere, continued media coverage income countries. Suicide is the cides; thus impulsive suicidal be- duct publicity campaigns to de-
will encourage more suicides. second most common cause of havior following interpersonal crease the stigma associated with
The most common narrative in death among China’s youth and conflicts in persons who do not seeking help for psychological
reports about Foxconn is that young adults after traffic acci- have an underlying mental disor- problems would help sustain the
these suicides are the result of dents, compared to third in the der may be more likely to result downward trend in suicide rates.
the break-neck speed of social United States, after traffic acci- in death in China than in coun- The best response to the Fox-
change in China. The intense com- dents and homicide. tries where less lethal methods conn suicides would be to first
petition for financial success, the such as ingestion of sleeping pills conduct a careful study of pre-
breakdown of traditional family are more commonly employed by cisely what happened. This would
structures, the weak coping skills Workers may not be taking suicide attempters. include determining the relative
of children from one-child fami- their own lives for the China has yet to develop a na- importance of work environment,
lies, the massive rural-to-urban tional strategy to tackle suicide as contagion from media reports,
migration and other aspects of reasons everyone thinks. a public-health problem. Starting other social stresses and underly-
China’s modernization are, ac- in the early 1990s there has been ing psychological problems in
cording to this narrative, believed an increasing awareness of the is- driving each of the victims to take
to have caused a corresponding Both the pattern and charac- sue on the part of policy makers. his or her life. Only then can the
rise in psychological stress, men- teristics of suicide in China are But local, institution-specific sui- company determine what steps, if
tal illness and suicides. substantially different from the cide preventive efforts have not any, it needs to take to avoid this
The facts do not support these West, and there is considerable yet been integrated into compre- in the future. That information
assumptions. With the possible debate about the reasons for hensive national or regional plans. will also be crucial to public-
exception of increasing rates of these differences. In China rural One of the most surprising as- health authorities in better under-
substance abuse (particularly al- rates are double urban rates and pects of the Foxconn story is the standing China’s broader suicide
cohol abuse), there is little evi- female rates are similar to male degree of access given to the problem and crafting effective
dence to confirm a rapid rise in rates, but in Western countries press and the forthrightness of community-based solutions. The
rates of common mental illnesses, urban and rural rates are roughly government officials in trying to worst thing to do now—for policy
and there is strong evidence of a similar and male rates are two- address the problem, something makers, factory owners or jour-
dramatic drop in suicide rates fold to four-fold higher than fe- we wouldn’t have seen 15 years nalists—would be to settle for fac-
over the last 20 years, perhaps by male rates. Another major differ- ago. The new transparency hope- ile explanations of what has
as much as 50%. The psychologi- ence is that only 65% of people fully will stimulate a greater em- caused this complex tragedy to
cal stresses experienced by indi- who die by suicide in China have phasis on the conditions of fac- unfold.
viduals have certainly changed as a mental illness, compared to 90% tory workers more generally,
the country has become more mo- to 95% in high-income countries. although the increased press cov- Dr. Phillips is director of the
bile and more competitive. But Depression and other mental erage runs the risk of encouraging Shanghai Suicide Research and
these stressors may be less severe disorders are still major risk fac- more suicides. Prevention Center at the Shang-
than those experienced in pre-re- tors for suicide in China. But the The public outcry about Fox- hai Mental Health Center and
form China, which had high levels relative importance of chronic and conn should also spark a recom- professor of psychiatry and glo-
of rural poverty, restricted social acute psychosocial stresses (par- mitment to developing a compre- bal health at Emory University in
mobility and rigid family relation- ticularly family conflicts), impul- hensive, multisectoral approach to Atlanta.
Pakistan’s civilian leadership major operation against them has
and the Army are under intense been the subject of debate in Paki-
American pressure to move into stan for some time. The terrorist
North Waziristan to strike Afghan attack against the Sri Lankan
Taliban and al Qaeda sanctuaries cricket team in Lahore in March
that allegedly support cross-bor- 2009, followed by other such at-
der activities against NATO forces tacks against government estab-
in Afghanistan. However, the Paki- lishments last year, reportedly had
stan government has declared that strong connections to these Pun-
the timing of this operation will jabi militants and the support of a
be dictated by the available re- neighboring country’s intelligence
sources and ground realities. Paki- agency.
stanis worry that the North Wa- The bloody Lahore massacre
European Pressphoto Agency
ziristan offensive could result in raises the prospects of a govern-
greater al Qaeda or TTP blowback ment crackdown against certain
in major cities. militant groups and their madras-
The Lahore attacks may con- sas, or religious schools, in south
firm these fears, but they are also Punjab. These elements do not en-
a sign that the militants must be joy public support and may go un-
rooted out wherever they may derground or try to shift toward
hide. A growing nexus between al Police and civilians take cover after an attack in Lahore, Pakistan last week. their allies in north Waziristan.
Qaeda and jihadi groups in Punjab, Being the frontline state in the
generally referred to as the Pun- Mainstream Pakistani religious Ali Bhutto. But they are still af- war against terror, Pakistan has
jabi Taliban, is coming out into and political parties are doing forded the same legal protections suffered more losses in this con-
the open. In south Punjab, some their best to head off this strat- as other religious minorities. flict than any other country in the
banned religious extremist groups egy. Their leaders and the civil so- More importantly, the attacks world. Until the war in Afghani-
amongst the Punjabi Taliban seem ciety have demonstrated remark- may have been intended as a stan comes to an end and peace is
to be aligned with al Qaeda and able unity and harmony to warning to Pakistani government restored to the region, Pakistan
the TTP. Reportedly a few splinter counter any attempts to incite and the Army not to launch mili- will continue to bear the brunt of
militant groups of Punjabi Taliban ethnic or sectarian divides in the tary operations in north Wa- terrorist attacks. But Pakistanis
have also joined hands with al past. Pakistanis remain convinced ziristan. The Punjabi Taliban-al continue to resist those who want
Qaeda and the TTP and are shel- that there are foreign hands be- Qaeda alliance may be retaliating to provoke sectarian violence, and
tering in north Waziristan. hind such terrorist acts that ulti- in desperation against the Army’s are extremely sensitive to protect-
Most alarming is the fact that mately aim to create anarchy. successful ongoing anti-TTP offen- ing the rights and freedom of the
the Lahore attacks targeted a par- Yet there remains a danger sive in Orakzai. Or the Lahore car- religious minorities which are
ticular religious minority with that these attacks will tarnish nage may have been designed to guaranteed in our constitution.
brutal force to ignite a sectarian Pakistan’s reputation as a country provoke the government into We remain resolved to wipe out
conflict that will allow the mili- where religious minorities are launching a military operation in militancy at any cost.
tants to radicalize Pakistani Mus- safe and respected. The Ahmadi south Punjab that would set the
lims. This poses a security threat sect were declared “non-Muslims” Punjab province on fire. Mr. Khan is a retired brigadier
for the entire society, as Paki- through a constitutional amend- The emergence of the Punjabi general of the Pakistan Army and
stan’s other religious communities ment in 1974, under the govern- Taliban phenomenon in south the editor of National Defence
could feel vulnerable to such acts. ment of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Punjab and the advisability of a Times.