You should try reading the article next time -- this post has absolutely nothing to do with suicide rates.
I guess your response is somewhat appropriate though. Like the company he worked for, you didn't even stop for a second to think of Xu as a human being, he was just a means to an end. In your case, that end being the collection free internet brownie points by posting a contrarian opinion.
That's unfair. The article starts off by referencing suicide rates; the website exists to argue against workplace iniquity rather than celebrate creative output.
It's actually reading the surrounding details of Xu's life deeper into the article, and particularly his poetry, that makes it abundantly clear that more was preying upon his mind than long hours and an institutional environment.
My intent was to supply a relevant perspective missing from the article. Each individual story of suicide is tragic. Xu Lizhi's poetry and perspective are extremely valuable in helping outsiders connect to the experience of depression, and in no way am I trying to undermine his experience or the reality of suicide.
To the extent that the article uses his story as a commentary on Foxconn as a company, however, it is important to provide broader context alongside the deeply personal experience. The underlying issues contributing to depression and suicide are universal, but it is easy to cast blame on specific contexts.
Even ignoring the article, the only context for Foxconn most people in the world have (assuming they have any at all) is "suicide rate". That's it.
That's what the news media has always done: Turned things that were stories, be they true or be they false, into context, to be inserted subconsciously whenever certain keywords get mentioned.
I guess your response is somewhat appropriate though. Like the company he worked for, you didn't even stop for a second to think of Xu as a human being, he was just a means to an end. In your case, that end being the collection free internet brownie points by posting a contrarian opinion.