media - Why Foxconn is evil

The Taiwanese iPod company Foxconn is suing two Chinese journalists and has asked a court in Shenzhen to freeze their assets, have noted many media. Foxconn was the supplier of Apple's iPod's, got accused by a British tabloid for its poor working conditions at facilities in Kunshan and Shenzhen, but was largely cleared after an investigation by Apple. The Bingfeng Teahouse summerized some of the links here.
So, I was largely confused by the stories when the Taiwanese decided to sue two journalists. Many Chinese media had followed the story, since the Taiwanese do have a bad reputation in the mainland. But normally Chinese journalists are not being sued in court. Most Chinese media have a close relationship with parts of the government and you have or more efficient ways to get what you want, or private parties just put up with what they write, since getting into trouble with them is causing only more problems.
Non-violent resistance now explained it to me and I must agree, Foxconn is an evil company.

Words in the Chinese press circles are, that FoxConn, therefore Hon Hai, had deliberately picked the two journalists from China Business News to sue in a painstaking plot to harrass and intimidate media outlets and journalists. After all, China Business News was not the only newspaper that doggedly followed the iPod sweatshop story. It seems that FoxConn, before launching the much criticized lawsuit, had also considered targeting 21st Century Economic Herald, another popular business newspaper who had similarly covered the story. But FoxConn's lawyers, after much investigation, found out that the 21st Century reporters who were involved in reporting the story had solid, formal employment contracts with the paper -- therefore, unlikely to be held as legitimate defendants in a court.

He expects this is going to be "Foxconn's worse PR crisis in the mainlaind", perhaps more negative than the original stories the journalists were going after.

The arrogance and viciousness of the Taiwanese electronics giant is simply unbearable.

While protected by the state, Taiwanese companies do have a very bad reputation among Chinese and this story might act as a trigger.
Here is the first story by Non-violent resistance about the issue.