Some of the other stuff Mitsubishi does

[zapcomix@silcom.com (ClaudeBatmanghelidj)]

Hi folks,

Some stuff I dug up online, re the giant Japanese corporation.


MITSUBISHI - GIANT OF THE TIMBER TRADE

(From Taiga News no 9, May 1994)

In 1989, the World Rainforest Movement called for an international
boycott of Mitsubishi Corporation because of its role in logging
the forests of Sarawak, Malaysia. Four years later, the full
extent of Mitsubishi's world-wide forest destruction is finally
becoming known. Mitsubishi, in combination with its subsidiary
Meiwa Trading Co., may well be the greatest corporate threat to
the world's tropical, temperate, and boreal forests.

Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Bank and Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries are the dominant members of the largest corporate
family in the world. They are all involved in the timber trade
industry. Mitsubishi Corporation structures the deals. Mitsubishi
Bank finances them. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries supplies
equipment for logging, processing, and shipping the timber. Other
Mitsubishi companies are destroying forests as well. They include:
Mitsubishi Paper Mills, Mitsubishi Oil, Mitsubishi Mining and
Cement, and BishiMetals, Inc. Forest destruction is a family
affair for Mitsubishi.

In 1991, Mitsubishi and Meiwa Trading combined to be the second
largest importer of tropical timber into Japan. Mitsubishi now has
had operations in the Philippines (Agusan Wood Industries),
Malaysia (Daiya Malaysia), Indonesia (Mongole Island), Papua New
Guinea (United Timbers). It is believed that Mitsubishi has also
purchased timber originating from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos.

Mitsubishi Corporation is active in South America as well. It has
the largest timber operation in the Brazilian Amazon (Eidai do
Brasil Madeiras, S.A.) and several operations in Chile (e.g.,
Astex Ltda.), where it is the largest exporter of wood chips to
Japan. It also has one of the largest timber operations in Bolivia
(Industria Maderera Sutro, Ltda.).

Mitsubishi's tentacles reach into the northern forests also. In
1991, Mitsubishi imported about 10% of Japan's annual imports of
lumber from Siberia. It is also a member of the giant K-S
Industries consortium involved in a $1.4 billion project to
develop Siberian timber resources. Mitsubishi and Hyundai of Korea
created a joint vent ure (M&H Corp.) which imported about 5,000
cubic meters of silver fir into Japan from Siberia in 1991. This
operation was endangering the last 200 Siberian tigers until
recent court action blocked the spread of their operation.
Mitsubishi claims that it no longer imports timber from Hundai's
Siberian operation, although we cannot confirm this.

In Canada, Mitsubishi is omnipresent. It is behind the giant ALPAC
mega-project that controls 70,000 square kilometers of boreal
forest in Alberta. It owns Crestbrook Forest Industries, where it
is being sued by Revenue Canada for transfer pricing. It owns the
Canadian Chopstick Manufacturing Company in British Columbia,
where it wastes 85% of the timber it cuts. It also continues to be
a major buyer of old growth logs and sawnwood from companies
likeMacMillan-Bloedel. Mitsubishi Corporation's Canadian
subsidiary exported 3 million board feet of cants and sawnwood to
Japan last year.

Mitsubishi Corporation was consistently one of the largest
importers of whole logs and sawnwood from the United States in the
last 30 years. Mitsubishi companies also held controlling shares
in Alaska Pulp Co., which was logging the rainforests of Tongass
National Forest until its contract was c ancelled in April of this
year for a breach of the original terms of agreement.

In three years, Mitsubishi executives have refused to meet with
environmental leaders. The company has sent hundreds of thousands
of carefully worded letters defending its logging activities. It
blames poverty as the real cause of rainforest destruction. It
even produced a comic book for Japanese High Schools refuting
environmentalists' claims. The Japan Ministry of Education
recalled it as "propaganda for a single company," however,
ordering it removed from High School libraries. Mitsubishi
Corporation has ignored criticism of its operations in the
temperate and boreal zones.

The international campaign against Mitsubishi is heating up.
Groups in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America are joining
forces. They are sending letters, protesting at auto shows,
picketing Mitsubishi auto and electronics dealerships, bannering
freeways, and engaging in direct actions against Mitsubishi
headquarters.

They are getting results. Major contracts have been cancelled in
Europe. The largest electronics dealership in the U.S. dropped
Mitsubishi products. Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America (MMSA)
dropped its slogan ("the word is getting around") and hired a
consulting firm to evaluate Mitsubishi Corporations's Daiya
Malaysia operation. MMSA is attempting to resolve the conflict
with the Rainforest Action Network before another season of auto
shows begins.

New reports on the environmental, social, and economic impact of
Mitsubishi Corporation's timber operations are being collected.
They uncover a pattern of illegalities, abuse and exploitation
that is unparalleled. The company has engaged in illegal logging,
transfer pricing, tax evasion, violations of pollution standards,
anti-trust activity, violation of native land claims, and
employment of illegal aliens.

The campaign against Mitsubishi is currently coordinated by the
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) in the U.S. It has developed an
organizer's manual, videotape, posters, flyers, slides, and
reports on specific operations. It also has extensive files and a
database on Mitsubishi's activities around the world. Interested
activists are encouraged to organize against Mitsubishi in their
country. They can contact RAN for free materials and information.

MICHAEL MARX, RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK, USA