Oppo sacks Chinese employee who insulted Indian flag

New Delhi: Chinese mobile phone company Oppo on Wednesday said it has fired the employee who insulted the Indian flag at its Noida factory premises yesterday.

"We have zero tolerance for such matters and have taken strict action in terminating the individual and continue working very closely with the authorities on the matter," Oppo India said in a statement here.

Protest had broken out yesterday at the Noida plant of Oppo after workers alleged that one of their Chinese colleagues had thrown the Indian National Flag to a dustbin.

Earlier in the day, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told a media briefing in Beijing that China hopes the Indian authorities would "properly" resolve the issue.

"We hope that it will be resolved properly. The Chinese government always asks its Chinese enterprises and staff overseas to abide by local law, regulations and respect local practices and customs," the spokesperson said.

Oppo India regretted the "unfortunate incident" and reaffirmed that this was an individual's behaviour that in no way represented the company's position.

"Based on the recent incident and after thorough investigation with the concerned authorities, we have found that a worker discarded the Indian Flag from the table during regular external material check," the company statement said.

"We at OPPO India would like to restate our deep respect for India and the people here. Since our establishment in India, OPPO has been committed to the development of the industry and local communities. Our priority is the well being of our employees and the community we service," it said.

Stressing that it has "deep respect" for India and its culture, the company said it continues to obey the applicable laws and regulations in India and will not tolerate any misconduct.