The State Department wants China to « immediately » release activists who were detained while investigating working conditions at a factory that makes Ivanka Trump-branded shoes.
The U. S. State Department had urged China to free the men immediately and give them « the judicial and fair trial protections to which they are entitled. »
But China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that the matter didn’t concern other countries.
« The judicial authorities of China can handle relevant cases according to our own laws and regulations, » ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular news briefing. « Other nations have no right to intervene. »
The activists went undercover at two factories in southern China, according to China Labor Watch, the New York-based advocacy group they were working for.
Related: Activist investigating Ivanka Trump shoe supplier is detained in China
China Labor Watch says it has documentation of worker abuse and plans to send a letter with some of the evidence to the Ivanka Trump company.
Li Qiang, the head of China Labor Watch, told CNNMoney that his group hasn’t heard anything about two of the men, Li Zhao and Su Heng. The activist group lost contact with them more than a week ago.
A third man, Hua Haifeng, was detained by local police in Jiangxi province, according to his wife.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said police put the men under criminal detention because of their use of « illegal monitoring devices. » The case is « in process, » she said.
Related: Chinese shoe manufacturer: Ivanka Trump ‘is a very good client’
China Labor Watch has disputed the allegations against the activists, saying this is the first time in 17 years of probing labor rights violations in China that any of its investigators had been detained by police.
