Probably I misunderstood-- but in case I didn't, I do want to say that I'm not sure how different in principle boycotting slave labor products is from boycotting products because you think they are the cause of cruelty to animals.
(I'm not talking about low wages; i'm talking about forced labor -- prisoners (some of them political prisoners there for such offences as circulating a petition; none of them having been tried, as "administrative action" is sufficient) being enslaved (there is no payment) in hideous conditions-- torture, rape, starvation, freezing, deprivation of medical care.)
A few links on this subject which explain why I try not to buy Chinese products. (I don't wear fur, either, but consider cruelty to animals no less horrifying than torture of humans.)
newstrolls.com
..The problem of the Chinese laogai slave labor system confronts Lucent in its multi- million dollar deals with China... The massive laogai imprisons 8 million men, women, and children in 1100 factories, farms, and other facilities producing a wide range of products, including many for export to the United States. It also presents unfair competition to free labor in China and elsewhere, including the United States...
cox.house.gov
An estimated 50 million Chinese men and women have passed through these [laogai]
camps, of whom 15 million have perished. Today, anywhere from 6 to 8 million
people are captive in the 1,100 camps of the Laogai, held and forced to work
under grossly inhumane conditions.
freerepublic.com
Three years in a labor camp for circulating a petition.
laogai.org
"'In all cases [of forced labor identified by US Customs], the [Chinese] Ministry of Justice refused the request [for inspection], ignored it, or simply denied the allegations without further elaboration.'"
"You also fail to mention that that protests occurring during the UN Working Group visit resulted in sentence
extensions for prisoners protesting harsh prison conditions, and that a third prison visit, by European Union
officials, led to the beatings and deaths of several prisoners,” Wu added.
The Laogai Research Foundation has documented nearly 100 forced labor camps, producing $800 million in sales, listed in a prestigious international business directory. These camps represent only a fraction of the 1,100
documented camps in existence. Unlike prisoner work programs in the U.S., which the Business Coalition
compares to the Laogai forced labor camps,in the Laogai there has been no due process [no trials], there is no compensation for work, conditions are severe, and physical punishment is rampant.
(I'm not mentioning the children who are working for 14 hours a day 6 days a week, because they aren't slaves, they're just poor and Chinese.) |
