“What the hell? What is our government doing?” he said. “They may very well flood the market with substandard devices and people will be relying on them as though they are of satisfactory quality, and that is bizarre.”“They may very well flood the market with substandard devices.”
A health care worker at Alameda Hospital wears a protective mask with a message during a protest outside of the hospital on April 07, 2020 in Alameda, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Flawed products
Corporate records show that BYD Precision Manufacture’s parent company, BYD Company Ltd., has previously been hit with “administrative penalties” in China. Specifically, Shanghai BYD Co., Ltd., a separate subsidiary that makes batteries, was fined for “medical treatment activities” and “clinical activities” not covered by their formal business registrations in 2018.BYD’s two main shareholders, Chairman Wang Chuanfu and Vice-Chairman Lu Xiangyang, are cousins and both billionaires among the richest individuals in China, owing to their holdings in BYD, according to Forbes.Logan Pauley, a China analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, found both men “have significant risks associated with them, including multiple court cases and contract disputes.” Wang has served as the legal representative for companies that have been the subject of multiple labor disputes, contract disputes, and patent disputes.None of that has stopped major international investors from placing bets on the company. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought 25% of the automaker’s Hong Kong-traded stock in 2008, and Buffett remains a major player in the company. In November, BYD announced a partnership with Toyota to develop a new line of battery-powered vehicles and is in talks with Audi to outfit their new line of cars with lithium-ion batteries. The Scottish city of Glasgow has a fleet of BYD buses on its streets as of last year.Do you have information about BYD or the U.S. PPE supply chain? We'd love to hear from you. Contact the writers at daniel.newhauser@vice.com or keegan.hamilton@vice.com.
Human-rights red flags
Medical personnel are seen outside NYU Langone Health hospital as people applaud to show their gratitude to medical staff and essential workers on April 4, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Pivot to masks
An electric bus stands at the BYD Coach and Bus factory in Lancaster, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)