Talk:Asia Pulp & Paper/Archives/2016

I recognize that there is a high level of controversy regarding APP and certain issues, including the environment and financial issues. I respect the rights of any and all to express their opinions on these subjects freely, but as I understand it, Wikipedia is to be a source of neutral and encyclopedic information and not a soapbox for the views of individuals or organizations. An article on APP should certainly include mention of the controversy and the issues, but in a more balanced and accurate way. Additionally, a more encyclopedic article might include more information on the history of the company and the area in which it operates. I would also, like to make clear my specific concerns with the article, the following are quotes from the article and my specific concern with them and a suggested neutral change:
• “their record of consistent breaches of environmental laws and agreements has lead many companies to terminate contracts with them[2].” – Even in the article quoted “consistent breaches of environmental laws and agreements” is not mentioned. The article says, “large paper sellers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Office Depot Inc., stopped buying from APP in recent years because of alleged environmental misdeeds.” The entry should use the wording from the quote which would be an acceptably neutral phrasing, “alleged environmental misdeeds.” In fact, APP does not have a record of consistent breaches of environmental laws and agreements.
• “has been convicted of being involved in Illegal Logging in Cambodia, Yunnan province in China, and in Indonesia, and has breached agreements with three major environmental organizations.” – First, there is no citation for this sentence and claim (though similar claims later in the entry quote sources). Second, APP has never been convicted of Illegal Logging anywhere. There have been allegations and even investigations into Illegal Logging, but never has the company been convicted of Illegal Logging. I believe that stating that APP has been convicted of such a crime could be considered libel. Finally, none of the articles quoted in the entry claim that APP has ever been convicted of Illegal Logging, they discuss investigations or allegations of Illegal Logging, but none say that these allegations or investigations have resulted in any kind of conviction. An appropriate phrasing would be to say that “APP has been investigated for Illegal Logging,” or “there have been allegations of Illegal Logging by APP.”
• “The company is also well known for defaulting on debt repayments in 2001, leading to a collapse in confidence of South Asian assets.” – The company is well known for defaulting on debt repayments in 2001. However, it is difficult to make the claim that this lead “to a collapse in confidence of South Asian assets.” Again, the source quoted to back this claim does not say or imply this. I would recommend removing or at the least attributing the claim that the default lead to such a collapse in confidence.
• In a broader context the “Environmental Issues and Illegal Logging” section presents the views and opinions of environmental NGOs and groups with a long record and history of attacking APP without contextualizing it, or presenting other views on the subject. The entry seems to present these views as fact and uses Wikipedia as an outlet to promote these opinions. A more balanced article would note the controversy and contextualize it appropriately, possibly presenting the APP view on the subject.

I have other more specific complaints with language and tone, but prefer to limit this initial post on the topic to the major issues. I believe a neutral party would agree that this article meets the “Attack page” requirements as described by Wikipedia and should be reduced to a neutral stub while an appropriate, encyclopedic article is developed. I am posting this on the entry’s “Discussion” page and the WikiProject Business “Talk” page. I have also alerted the editor who added this information to the entry to alert him/her of my concerns. If more experienced Wikipedia editors and users believe there is another, more appropriate venue or method for this discussion or I have in any way breached standard procedure please let me know. As mentioned earlier, I am new to this aspect of Wikipedia and would appreciate any guidance. My goal in this is not to use Wikipedia as venue for promotion but simply to ensure that a balanced, neutral and high quality encyclopedia article is created for APP.