SCUFFLES have erupted in Taiwan as activists alleging labour abuses by IT giant Foxconn tried to enter an exhibition centre where President Ma Ying-jeou was opening Asia's biggest technology fair.
The protesters, who were shouting "capitalists kill people" and holding placards and pictures of Foxconn chief Terry Gou, fought with uniformed police as they tried to deliver a letter to the President while he launched Computex Taipei.
Five other IT tycoons, including Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and Cher Wang, chairwoman of Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC Corp, were also targeted.
Foxconn, a unit of the Hon Hai group, makes a range of popular products including Apple iPhones, Dell computers and Nokia mobiles phones.
"All the products on display at the exhibition inside are made with workers' sweat and blood," demonstration leader Liu Nien-yun said.
They were campaigning as 10 workers at a Foxconn plant in the Chinese city of Shenzhen fell to their deaths in apparent suicides this year.
An 11th worker died at a factory run by the firm in northern China.
Demonstrations over the deaths have also taken place in Hong Kong.
The deaths have raised questions about the conditions for millions of factory workers in China, especially at Foxconn, where the activists say long hours, low pay and high pressure are the norm.
But the accusation of "blood and sweat" has been flatly rejected by Mr Gou, who for the first time last week organised a tour of the Shenzhen plant.
The firm is planning to give its staff a 20 per cent pay rise as it battles to stem the spate of suicides, according to Taiwanese media.
The conglomerate employs more than 800,000 people worldwide.
The five-day Computex Taipei, which has attracted more than 1700 exhibitors, features 4861 booths and is expected to attract about 120,000 visitors, including 35,000 international buyers, organisers say.
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