The New York Times’ Keith Bradsher reports that Hua Haifeng and two other labor activists have been detained in Jiangxi Province while working undercover to investigate conditions at two factories for China Labor Watch. The Huajian International factories that the activists were investigating make shoes for Ivanka Trump’s brand, among…
The New York Times’ Keith Bradsher reports that Hua Haifeng and two other labor activists have been detained in Jiangxi Province while working undercover to investigate conditions at two factories for China Labor Watch. The Huajian International factories that the activists were investigating make shoes for Ivanka Trump’s brand, among others.
The activist, Hua Haifeng, who was working on behalf of the advocacy group China Labor Watch, was detained on suspicion of illegal eavesdropping, his wife, Deng Guimian, said late Tuesday. Mr. Hua and two other labor activists had been undercover at two Chinese factories that make shoes for Ms. Trump and other brands. They all disappeared on Saturday, according to their employer, China Labor Watch. […] Li Qiang, the director of China Labor Watch, said that the three labor activists did not have any illegal eavesdropping equipment, and speculated that Mr. Hua and the other activists might have been detained over the use of cellphones. “Jiangxi police are just looking for an excuse, ” he said. […] Mr. Li, who set up China Labor Watch 17 years ago and has conducted hundreds of investigations of Chinese factories, said this was the first time any of his activists had been detained in a criminal case. China Labor Watch has previously looked into labor conditions at Apple and Samsung. In his view, the unusual action by the Chinese police appeared to be a response to his group’s decision to investigate a manufacturing operation related to President Trump’s family.
