Apple supplier Foxconn subjected to tax inspections by Chinese authorities

abcnews.go.com:

Chinese state media report that Foxconn, a Fortune 500 company known globally for making Apple iPhones, was recently subjected to searches by Chinese tax authorities

BANGKOK — Foxconn, a Fortune 500 company known globally for making Apple iPhones, was recently subjected to searches by Chinese tax authorities, according to local reports Sunday.

Foxconn, a Taiwanese -headquartered company officially registered as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd, had its offices in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces searched by tax officials, according to a report in the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper.

The Ministry of Natural Resources also inspected Foxconn offices in Henan and Hubei provinces, where the company has major factories. Foxconn employs hundreds of thousands of workers across China.

The report did not provide more details about the searches, including when they occurred or what was found.

It also quoted an expert who said that “while Taiwan-funded enterprises, including Foxconn, are sharing in dividends from development and making remarkable progress in the mainland, they should also assume corresponding social responsibilities and play a positive role in promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”

Tensions have been high between China and Taiwan in recent years. China claims the democratic self-governing island of Taiwan as part of its own territory. The sides split in 1949 after a civil war and have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars in trade and investment.

The Chinese Communist Party regularly flies fighter planes and bombers near Taiwan to enforce its stance that the island is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The tensions have occasionally