China: Modern-day slaves are beaten and buried alive as police look the other way

Asia News ^ | June 15, 2007

[NYer]

Freed “slaves” tell their horrific stories. Rescued by relatives they talk about police indifference. Children lured with promises of jobs are kidnapped and forced to work like adults. Factory owners threaten and beat parents who try to rescue their children and those of other parents.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Zhang Yinlei was lured into slavery with promises of a job at a brick factory. Instead he worked for months seeing his fellow workers beaten to death. Only by accident did his father find out and came to his rescue. His story of enslavement is not unique; it is one of many in 21st Century China, the new land of prosperity and boom times.

Yinlei’s father, Zhang Shanlin, told the South China Morning Post that his son was trapped when he tried to find a job after graduating in March from a vocational school in Zhengzhou (Henan). The boy was forced to work 15 to 16 hours a day and anybody who tried to escape was beaten. Workers “were treated like the dead.”

On April 26 his son and five other workers were almost burned alive when they were forced to move bricks in a searing hot kiln. All six were severely hurt but were locked up in the factory and given no treatment for over a month.

It was only after a client from Hongdong County told police about the injured workers that the owner sent the six to a hospital for treatment. But the police still did not contact the victims' families.

Using a cellphone borrowed from the relative of another patient, Zhang Yinlei called his father who arrived on May 29. In the hospital the factory owner even demanded Mr Zhang pay his son's medical bill. The police instead did nothing.

Since the factory's owner was a village party secretary “he was protected by local officials and police,” Mr Zhang said.

When he went to pick up his son's student identity documents at the brick factory, he saw several dozen workers, including four to five aged around 12 to 14, he said.

Stories like this are not exceptional. Zhou Yong said that he went to work in a brick factory in Hebei province when he was 17; that was seven years ago. He was beaten as soon as he arrived and forced to work 16 hours a day for little food.

He was able to escape and go to the police who simply sent him to a bus station but refused to rescue the other kids at the factory. There were at least 20 other boys working there, malnourished and thin, he said.

Jiu Wenjie was 15 when he went missing in January in Zhengzhou. His parents have been looking for him ever since. His mother Zhang Xiaoying said that she visited hundreds of kilns where she saw children working like adults.

Chai Wei, whose son went missing in April, said he knew of other parents who had rescued about 100 workers since March, including 41 children—one just eight years old. But kiln owners tried their best to intimidate and beat them up in order to chase them away.

[jedward]

whenever want = whenever they want

[fortheDeclaration]

China is a communist state, which means everyone in it (but the ruling elite) are slaves.

[Paul Ross]

However, I fail to see how erecting broad trade barriers that don’t distinguish between those producers that violate elevate workers in China and those which repress them aids Chinese citizens

You are claiming a distinction which does not exist. The Communist party controls ALL labor and wage functions in their country. Even for example, at General Electrics' R&D Center in Shanghai...where the employees are primarily professional scientists and technicians. Maybe they get treated better...but we ...and the workers...know who is really calling the shots. It's right in their rules. The foreign firms are immediately surrendering a half interest of their entire investment in China...to their agents. This pointedly gives them an easy basis for re-nationalization when they are ready to openly declare they never quit being communist monsters.

As noted in this thread...they refuse to let even a tiny bit of freedom in. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not very conversant with reality on the ground. Try walking around with a Bible in mainland China. If you want to deal with the entire system, you must go after the Chicom party itself...and use the main blunderbuss which will take it down...deprive them of their labor price advantage. Defund the Communists.

And the simplest, most eminently affordable way to do that without it appearing to be an "attack" on China is by uniformly switching America back to Hamiltonian/Traditional Republican governmental funding mechanisms. [For "national debt reasons"] Eliminate all the income taxes, capital gains taxes (repealing the 16th Amendment) and go with Revenue tariffs. With only a few true allies conferred trade tariff-free reciprocity. China's whole pin-point attack on our economic weakness...the hubris of the doctrinnaire elites....who can be peeled off to echo China Foreign policy...will be confounded.

[Ignatz]

I’m sure the reason we haven’t heard from the Rubberbands Jesse and Al are because they are on there way there right now to stop the horrible tragedy!

[Paul Ross]

BUMP!

[Eternal_Bear]

I wonder how they would treat us if they could ever take over.

[mjolnir]

You’re right, and I would go even further-— South Africa was more than a nominal ally-— it was a very solid ally, whereas China is anything but.

My point was simply that the arguments the AFL-CIO make based upon the welfare of the Chinese worker are disingenuous.

Trade sanctions such as Duncan Hunter and Frank Gaffney support, based to the the extent that they are upon American national security considerations, address a different, and as you say, more immediate set of concerns.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

But...but...the Cato Institute says we benefit so much from their cheap goods and that they’re not all bad people! Why must we antagonize them with tariffs? /s

PING!

[HamiltonJay]

The predictable outcome of “free trade” ....

The United States has absolutely squandered all moral authority with its trade policies of the last 20 years.

It is infathonable that such a nation is grated wide open access to our markets.

But hey, as long as the stock market goes the right way, who gives a hell.

Shameful and disgusting.

[Cacique]

We must also turn our people and import more slaves to compete against the Chinese. Liberty and freedom are so passe. What are you some kind of communist?

This is not over yet. Bush refuses to give up this easily. It's his stubborn character. As I predicted he would try to resurrect it and call it something else. We have to keep our guard up. We need to keep the pressure up. We have no choice but to fight. The oligarchy wants cheap labor and a destruction of the middle class and the millionaire democrats want votes they can count on. A marriage made in HELL.

STAGE TWO is to go after the people who hire illegals. Start giving them fines and arresting them. Just catch ten or 100 of them on the nightly news. The magnet will dry up and most of the 12 million will go home by themselves.

As an addendum, we should anonymously call the IRS, people working "off the books" means taxes ain't being paid. Make anonymous fliers and hang them around the neighborhood, name names. It's time to embarrass these bustards, whether they give to the GOP or Rats, we don't need them.

CALL! CALL! CALL! CALL! AND KEEP CALLING TILL THE LINES FRY!

WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! TILL YOU RUN OUT OF INK IN YOUR PEN!

Bombard the Democrats as well, especially the ones that ran on an anti illegal immigration plank and the ones in marginal districts who could be vulnerable. keep pounding on them. This is a bipartisan issue not a Conservative or Liberal issue BUT AN AMERICAN issue.

STOP AMNESTY NOW!! WE CAN DO IT!!

The best way to stop Shamnesty

[pissant]

You hit the nail on the head.

[jedward]

Bump!

[E-Mat]

China is the very image of Mordor.

It’s a horrible irony being slaves of slaves in a prison within a prison.
How dare they compete with the official Prison Republic of China!

For all anyone knows, their government staged these raids to give the impression that they disapprove of slave labor.

[design engineer]

Both India and China have one foot in the developed world and another stuck way below down the drain. China does seem to pursue a very aggressive developmental policy defying basic freedom to her citizenry. India offers a lot of religious and political freedom, but lacks a good developmental policy.

[NYer]

Will a story such as this get the MSM exposure as lost whales, runaway brides, sluts going to jail, etc?

It did tonight. Driving home, this was the story on NPR.

Then again, I gave up watching the MSM news 3 years ago. I doubt they will offer the coverage this story deserves. That is why I get my news from the Internet.

[ßuddaßudd]

I’m glad to hear it got some exposure.

[NYer]

I understand this may be a track and field event in the '08 Olympics.

No ... but you raise an important point.

BAN THE CHINESE OLYMPICS!

Hit them where it hurts!

[sweetiepiezer]

Peiping.