富士康讼案消息一经发布，舆论为之大哗，近日成为大陆媒体关注的焦点和最火辣的网络话题，连境外媒体也为此拔刀为大陆记者助阵。8月30日晚间，此事突然又现戏剧性转折：鸿海集团（富士康）紧急召开高层会议，决定将求偿金额降为1元人民币，但是坚持诉诸法律，并将上海《第一财经日报》列为被告。同日，富士康的代工客户之一苹果电脑已表示，正在帮助解决富士康诉记者案。

A Taiwan-funded company has slashed its defamation claim against two Shanghai journalists from 30 million yuan (3.75 million U.S. dollars) to just one yuan (13 U.S.  cents). An official at Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn that manufactures iPods for the U.S.-based Apple Inc, told Xinhua in a telephone call that the company would apply the Shenzhen Intermediate Court to unfreeze the journalists' assets, which include their homes, bank accounts and a car. The official also said the company would add the China Business News, employer of the two journalists, to the list of defendants. Weng Bao, a reporter involved in the case, also confirmed the news. "This is the victory of Chinese media," he said. The company has filed a defamation suit against Weng and his colleague Wang You over a report alleging most of its workers had to work stand up 12 hours a day and some fainted with fatigue. The decision followed several days of public debate during which the two journalists set up their own webblogs to express their grievance. Nearly two million people had visited the blogs by the middle of Wednesday, mostly voicing support for the journalists. An on-line poll of 43,250 people launched by www.sina.com.cn showed on early Thursday that 48.1 percent of respondents believed that Hongfujin would lose the case, 41.22 percent argued that the company and journalists would reach an agreement, 5.81 believed the company would win and the remaining 4.87 were undecided. The survey also showed 83.22 percent of the respondents believed the two journalists did not damage the reputation of the company. However, a reader calling himself Fanhui, the Chinese for "Objection", said, "the news report is a little bit sensational. They should investigate the case thoroughly." Apple Computer said Wednesday it was trying to settle a dispute over alleged labor abuses at its iPod factory in China, an awkward case highlighting the challenges big companies face in living up to their codes of conduct while outsourcing most of their production, AP reported. The case also reflects the pressures Chinese journalists confront in doing their jobs.   (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

slash: 削减、降低 unfreeze: 解冻，解除（对资金）的冻结 grievance: 委屈，冤情 live up to: 遵守、实践（诺言、原则、行为准则） outsourcing: 外购 （英语点津陈蓓编辑）