In China...discrimination against people who carry the hepatitis B virus is not only possible but widespread. Even though at least 10 percent of the Chinese population carries the virus...there is a failure among many to understand that it cannot spread through casual contact...[T]he barriers...fit into a larger context of job discrimination in China...private employers routinely push middle-age women to retire early in favor of younger, cheaper employees, for example...In Wujiang...22 employees were fired from companies or divisions under Cal-Comp Electronics, which is based in Thailand and which produces products for Hewlett-Packard, among other companies...The Beijing office of HP said in a statement: "HP has been made aware of these allegations against one of our suppliers and is in the process of finding out more information."