As shown in Table 4.7, “attribution of responsibility” was found mostly in stories published before June. The four dailies employed this frame to find out the person to be responsible for the event. Of stories categorized in this frame, two main characters were mostly mentioned: workers and employers. Others, like the society, government, and psychological or feng shui (風水, geomancy) explanations, would not be
discussed here for little relevance to the focus of this thesis.
Workers
When workers were mentioned in “attribution of responsibility,” though in a rather small portion, they were usually described to have committed suicide due to personal reasons, like love affairs, financial pressure, off-work disputes or mental illness. Such arguments were mostly made by the company or government officials, while some were based in the letters left by the dead.
In addition to personal reasons, media also sorted out some features shared by those workers who committed suicide- they were young, migrant workers, who only served for a very short time in the company. This particular group of workers, the so-called “post-80s” or “post-90s” generations, was described in news to have
permissive attitudes toward work and was too vulnerable to manage work in pressure as the following stories informed us.
“If they have something in mind, they dare not speak it out, nor seek for assistance. They have pressure, but cannot take it on their own.” (United Daily- May 14, 2010)
「他們有事不敢說出來，不去求助，但自己有壓力卻沒辦法承擔。」
（聯合報，5 月 14 日）
This is not the employer’s problem. This is the fate of workers in this generation… Workers of the new generation are unable to manage work in pressure. (China Times- May 15, 2010)
問題並非出在工廠，「這是一代產業工人的命運。」… 新一代產業工人抗
壓性過低。（中國時報，2010 年 5 月 15 日）
In addition to the difficulty of recruiting workers, those “post-90s”
workers, the result of one-child policy, are so vulnerable to difficulties and frustrations that they quit their jobs easily. This could trouble employers a lot.
(United Daily- Jul. 22, 2010)
工人難招外，90 年後的工人，因成長環境相對優渥，又多為獨生子 女，對挫折和艱困的忍受力相對較弱，因而動不動就想離開，逼得不少企
業主很抓狂。（聯合報，2010 年 7 月 22 日）
“Some people quit only after worked two or three days,” Dongguan Taiwan Business Association Lee Wen-Cheng said that these “young children" do not like it in the factory, and usually quit without a second thought. A manager of a listed Taiwan-based company in Dongguan said, "we desperately need labor, yet young people set their hearts on clerical office.”
(United Daily- Jul. 22, 2010)
「很多做不到三天就走人了」，東莞台商協會分會秘書長李文誠說，
這些「小朋友」到工廠後覺得不喜歡，二話不說就不幹了。在東莞設廠的
台灣上市公司主管也說，「我們急需基層普工，但年輕人卻搶著當文員」。
（聯合報，2010 年 7 月 22 日）
When used as a main subject in “attribution of responsibility,” despite of the limited portion, workers tended to be negatively represented. They were lexically described as
“permissive”, “fragile”, “vulnerable to handle work in pressure,” and “spoiled as the product of one-child policy.” These observations all focused on the negative aspect of workers.
Employer
Coverage that targeted the company as the one to take the responsibility of the incident mostly centered on the company’s iron-hand style of military-like
management, which was later on extended to the discussion of worldwide capitalism exploitation. Sources of these accusations usually came from workers, protesters and scholars, as in:
Hong Hai has never opened its factories for media visit for the sake of business secret. Therefore, some people describe the company as Guo’s
“Forbidden City. (United Daily- May 26, 2010)
”鴻海多年來以商業機密為由，從未開放媒體自主參觀，更有人形容 是郭台銘的「紫禁城」。（聯合報，2010 年 5 月 26 日）
Mourn over the Youth, Labor Group Calls for Termination of “Killing Production Line” (Apple Daily- May 29, 2010)
哀悼青春 勞團抗議鴻海 高喊終結「殺人生產線」（蘋果日報，2010 年 5 月 29 日）
There have been twelve cases of suicide jumps in Shenzhan this year, resulting in 10 deaths. Guo has become the spotlight of media worldwide, being strictly examined by consumers, labor union members, media, scholars and Chinese government. Foxconn is even described as an “industrial
monster” that treats workers as if they were machines. (Liberty Times- Sept.
11, 2010)
今年以來深圳龍華廠發生十二起員工跳樓自殺事件，導致十人死 亡，郭台銘因而成為全球焦點，遭到消費者、勞工運動人士、媒體、學界 和中國政府的嚴格檢視，富士康甚至被形容為工業怪獸，對待工人如機 器。(自由時報，2010 年 9 月 11 日)
Tien Yu [who was saved in her leap to death] said that she was
responsible for inspection in Apple’s production line, examining if any scratch
on products, “it was boring.” The military management and prestige
established by violent punishment also hurt her feelings. (Apple Daily- Oct. 22, 2010)
田玉表示，進了富士康，負責蘋果的生產線上目檢，檢查產品上是 否有刮痕，但覺得工作「很沒意思」，生產過程的軍事化管理，以暴力與 懲罰來建立管理威信，也造成她心靈的傷口。(蘋果日報，2010 年 10 月 26 日)
The investigation group found that Foxconn has recruited a great number of interns to work for them. They create handsome profit by exploiting those young workers. (Apple Daily- Oct. 26, 2010)
小組調查發現，富士康近幾年來大量招收實習生，藉由壓榨年輕學 生勞動力來創造利潤。(蘋果日報，2010 年 10 月 26 日)
The statement indicated that Foxconn should take the major
responsibility of this suicide incident. Under the fancy appearance of those transnational technology products is the profit chain that “intertwines with blood and sweat labor and brand profit”, which is the picture of the “mean and stingy” global capitalism. (United Daily- June 13, 2010)
聲明中指出，鴻海富士康應該為員工自殘事件負起最大責任，在跨 國科技產品時尚光鮮的表面下，是「交織著血汗勞動與品牌暴利」的利益 鏈條，也是全球資本主義「吝嗇而卑鄙」的寫照。（聯合報，2010 年 6 月 13 日）
From the articles, it is evident that descriptions of the company by the dailies were those such as “Guo’s Forbidden City”, “killing production line”, “blood and sweat factory”, “industrial monster”, “military management”, “exploitation of young workers”, “profit chain that intertwines with blood and sweat labor and brand profit”, and “the picture of the ‘mean and stingy’ global capitalism.”
In late May and early June, the company started to propose solutions, like hiring psychologists, increasing wages, and setting up nets around buildings. Since then, media discourse had shifted to explain for the company by employing quotes that favored the company. Explanations were provided from different perspectives, such as working welfare, suicide rates, enterprise culture, and historical context, as in:
The salary and welfare of Guo’s factory are the best in China. If Foxconn is a “blood and sweat factory”, then no factories, especially national
enterprises in the country, can escape from this accusation. Why do scholars
not criticize the Chinese government or those national enterprises, but Guo only? (Apple Daily- June 16, 2010)
但實際上郭的工廠已是大陸工廠工資和福利最好的了；如果富士康 是血汗工廠，全大陸就全是血汗工廠，尤其是國營企業。為什麼學者不去 批判禁止罷工的中國政府和國企，只責備郭台銘呢？ (蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 16 日)
Steve Jobs said that he also heard about Wether Effect in his hometown.
He said that the suicide rate in Foxconn, with 400, 000 workers in its factory is much lower than that in the United States. (China Times- June 3, 2010)
喬布斯說，過去在自己的家鄉也曾聽聞模仿自殺的事情，這個有四 十萬名員工的工廠來看，自殺率其實比美國國內要低。(中國時報，2010 年 6 月 3 日)
[Foxconn spokesperson] Liu Kun said that it is not true to say Foxconn employs military management. There are nearly 800, 000 workers in Foxconn in China. The company pursues high quality and strict standard for products.
This is how the company survives and lives on. Yet, such pursuit could in some ways influence the company’s organizational culture and make certain disciplines too rigid in their reinforcement. (United Daily- Apr. 13, 2010)
劉坤說，外界流傳富士康是軍事化管理，這種說法不準確。他說，
富士康在大陸近八十萬員工，對待產品品質、工藝方面的追求非常高，這 個高標準是富士康成長壯大的基礎，但這種高標準追求，或多或少影響到 富士康企業管理文化的特質，比如管理層在對待員工時，有一些管理措施 顯得刻板。（聯合報，2010 年 4 月 13 日）
In perspective of development, every country will go through the stage of being “blood and sweat” in their early industrializations. Those workers’
tragic experiences in British capitalists’ factories described by Charles
Dickens and Karl Marx in the 19 century are shocking and unbearable, and so was the situation in America’s early-industrialized stage. Also, what workers in Taiwan 30 years ago had gone through was much more worse than what we have seen in today’s Foxconn. (Apple Daily- June 16, 2010)
從發展的觀點看，任何國家在工業化初期，都經過血汗工廠的階段。
19 世紀狄更斯和馬克思筆下英國資本家工廠的工人慘狀，令人髮指。美 國工業化初期也是。台灣在 30 年前的工人的處境比今天的富士康還壞得 多。 (蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 16 日)
Guo has been working on charity and also created a lot of jobs. It was too harsh to call him “the shame of Taiwan.” (Apple Daily- June 16, 2010)
郭在台灣做了很多慈善好事，也創造了兩岸很多的就業機會，說他 台灣之恥是太超過了。(蘋果日報，2010 年 6 月 16 日)
These statements defended the company’s responsibility in this incident by suggesting that the company should not be the only one to take all the blames and responsibility by such expressions as, the wages and welfare of Foxconn are the best in China, the suicide rate in Foxconn is much lower than that in the United States, military
management is a presentation of the company’s pursuit of high quality, this is a stage that every industrial country must go through, Guo and other Taiwan-based
enterprises in China have contributed a lot in promoting the Cross-Strait economic development, etc.
In short, there were two targets in the “attribution of responsibility” category, the worker and the employer, namely Foxconn. Workers in this frame were usually described to be too fragile to handle pressure either at work or in life. Their
vulnerability to pressure was considered as one of the reasons for the series of suicides. On the other hand, the dailies also blamed the company in this frame for applying military-like management by treating workers like parts of a machine. There is no accurate time divide referring to an obvious shift of the attribution of
responsibility in coverage. In other words, accusations against workers and employers kept emerging throughout the event. However, it was also found that a short term of period in June, when the company started proposing solutions, there were some stories defending the company from different perspectives.