U.S. Wants Activists Probing Ivanka Trump-Linked Plant Released

by Dramelin 7:00 PM 0 comments

State Department said it wants China to release three labor activists presumed to have been detained by police while they were investigating violations at a factory that manufactured Ivanka Trump shoes.
"We are concerned by reports that Chinese authorities have detained labor-rights activist Hua Haifeng and that two other labor activists -- Su Heng and Li Zhao -- are also missing and presumed to be detained," said Alicia Edwards, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
"We urge China to release them immediately and otherwise afford them the judicial and fair trial protections to which they are entitled.
" The three were working undercover for the New York-based China Labor Watch at a factory operated by shoe manufacturer Huajian Group in the southeast province of Jiangxi when they went missing late last month.
Hua’s wife was later contacted by local police and told that he’d been detained for illegal eavesdropping.
Huajian’s facility is one of 15 factories that make products for the brand founded by the daughter of U.
President Donald Trump that China Labor Watch said it has been investigating in the past year.
In a letter sent to Ivanka Trump in April, the group alleged a number of labor violations at two unnamed factories that supply the Ivanka Trump brand, including that employees were forced to work at least 12 1/2 hours a day for wages below China’s legal minimum -- a monthly salary equivalent to about a dollar an hour.
The manufacturer’s facilities also make products such brands as Coach Inc.
and Marc Fisher Footwear Co.
, according to its website.
Hua was supposed to deliver evidence of violations, including images and videos, to Li Qiang, the founder of the group, in Hong Kong last week.
Instead, he was barred from leaving the country without being given a reason, Li said.
It’s the first time in 17 years that activists working for the nonprofit workers-advocacy group have been detained by the Chinese police, Li said.
"Labor activists have been instrumental in helping American companies understand the conditions in their supply chains, which can be essential in fulfilling their own responsibilities and holding Chinese manufacturers accountable under Chinese labor laws," Edwards said.