Grim stories of slave labour in China

There have been reports about unsafe products that have made their way to the US from China, from toxic drywall to deadly pet food, but the world is less aware that some products made in China are manufactured in its forced labour camps.

Halloween kits

When Oregon resident Julie Keith bought Styrofoam headstones (the Halloween graveyard kit) from a local supermarket for Halloween, she found something more terrifying inside — an apparent plea for help from a Chinese forced labourer. Scribbled onto a paper and folded into eighths, the letter was tucked between two Styrofoam headstones. The note reads, with some words in the original Chinese, as below: “If you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Right Organisation. Thousands people here who are under the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you forever.”

The graveyard kit, the letter read, was made in unit 8, department 2 of the Masanjia Labour Camp in Shenyang, China.

“People who work here have to work 15 hours a day without Saturday, Sunday break and any holidays. Otherwise, they will suffer torturement (sic), beat and rude remark. Nearly no payment (10 Yuan/1 month).”

Cheap factory of world

China is known as the ‘factory of the world' for its success in supplying cheap manufactured goods globally, often manufactured in its labour camps or factories by exploitation of its labour. In the process, China has seen its share of global manufacturing output rise from 2 per cent to nearly 20 per cent in 20 years. China is now the world's largest exporter, boasting 8 per cent of global exports. Its foreign exchange reserves have mushroomed from almost nothing three decades ago to over $1,500 billion now.

After the economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s in China, millions of rural migrant workers moved to seven cities and industrial provinces — Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Fujian — and provided cheap, efficient and disciplined labour for the rapid growth of manufacturing and construction sectors in these cities.

However, due to the household registration system (hukou) of China, such migrant workers do not have any rights to own housing for their families or education for their children in these cities.

Foxconn is a Taiwanese-owned contract manufacturing company, with a mammoth production centre in Shenzhen city of China. Foxconn employs more than 400,000 workers in Shenzhen alone, producing millions of iPods and iPhones for Apple, as well as computers and mobile phones. The working conditions in Foxconn are reportedly pathetic.

Labour Unrest

After 20 years of China's manufacturing boom, a new younger generation of workers has emerged with greater expectations than their parents and they are starting to assert themselves. In the last few years, a series of strikes hit Honda, Hyundai and Toyota factories around southern China, seeking better wages and working conditions.

The labour unrest may slowly erode China's labour-cost advantage, prompting some firms to consider relocating their China operations. China’s loss can be other countries’ gain.

(The author is a Finance & Management Professional.)

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