China’s slavery scandal widened Tuesday with the state-run press reporting that young girls had been forced into prostitution at a brickyard work camp where abuse and beatings were routine.

The latest reports come as the slavery ring that was initially reported only in Shanxi and Henan provinces in north and central China had in fact been operating elsewhere around the country for as long as a decade.[Full text]

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Post tags: human trafficking, labor rights, prostitution, Shanxi brick kiln, slaves
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All External Communication Offices, Central and Local Main News Websites:

Regarding the Shanxi “illegal brick kilns” event, all websites should reinforce positive propaganda, put more emphasis on the forceful measures that the central and local governments have already taken, and close the comment function in the related news reports. The management of the interactive communication tools, such as online forums, blogs, and instant messages, should also be strengthened. Harmful information that uses this event to attack the party and the government should be deleted as soon as possible. All local external communication offices should enhance their instruction, supervision and inspection, and concretely implement the related management measures.

The Internet Bureau, CPC Central Office of External Communication

June 15, 2007

UPDATE: Read also: How media “guidance” works in China by James Fallows.

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Post tags: media censorship, Shanxi, Shanxi brick kiln, slaves
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Rescue teams comprising a staggering 35,000 police officers in Henan Province have freed 217 people, including 29 children, from slavery in illegal brick kilns – but more are believed to be held captive, provincial police said on Thursday.

The laborers were abducted by human traffickers and taken to the kilns, where they were beaten, starved and forced to work long hours without payment, according to the police.

Up to 120 suspects have been detained. Until Tuesday, police checked 7,500 kilns, and the campaign continues. [Full Text]

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Post tags: child labor, Henan, human trafficking, Shanxi, Shanxi brick kiln, slaves
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After rescuing around 40 children, the fathers’ rescue efforts were obstructed by the local police, who were supposed to protect innocent people but instead were in alliance with the kiln owners. Exhausting all reasonable approaches and obtaining no responses from the government, the fathers had to seek help from the Internet. They published a moving open letter on June 7 on Tianya Club, one of the most-viewed Chinese online forums. The letter brought about an outburst of public opinion supporting the rescue campaign and calling for the central government to interfere. On June 13, Wang Zhaoguo , member of the China Communist Party politburo, expressed his concern over the issue. One of the owners was immediately put on the wanted list by the police as a class B criminal.

Below is the letter posted on Tianya. Partially translated by CDT:

We are the fathers of the children who were abducted to toil at illegal brick kilns in Shanxi Province. Our children, who are very young and unsophisticated, were hoodwinked or forcibly dragged into cars by human traffickers at Zhengzhou Railway Station, bus stations, underneath pedestrian overpasses, or on the roads. They were sold for 500 yuan apiece to the owners of illegal brick kilns in Shanxi to work as slave laborers.

(...)
Read the rest of Who Can Save Our Children? – Fathers of 400 Enslaved Children (411 words)

© Kate Zhao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Henan, human trafficking, Shanxi, Shanxi brick kiln, slaves
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More than 200 people, including 29 children, have been rescued after working as “slaves” in brick kilns in central China, state media reports.

Tens of thousands of police moved in on the kilns in Henan province, arresting 120 people, Xinhua news agency said.

They acted after media reports claimed that children were being forced to work in kilns in neighbouring Shanxi province, Xinhua said.

(...)
Read the rest of Mass Rescue of ‘Slaves’ in China – BBC News (70 words)

© Kate Zhao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: child labor, Henan, human trafficking, Shanxi brick kiln, slaves
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