Chinese activists investigating Ivanka Trump brand factory released on bail

[niyad]

Chinese activists investigating Ivanka Trump brand factory released on bail

Hua Xiaoqin, left, sister of Chinese labor activist Hua Haifeng, tries to block a reporter approaching her brother, right, as he carries his son Bobo from a police station after being released in Ganzhou, China, on June 28. (Gerry Shih/AP)
By Emily Rauhala June 28 at 11:45 AM

BEIJING — Three men detained while investigating working conditions at factories that make shoes for Ivanka Trump’s brand have been released on bail. The men — Su Heng, Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng — were detained in late May while working on a report for China Labor Watch. Chinese authorities have said little about their case, although a story in a Communist Party-controlled news outlet alleged they were being held on suspicion of stealing commercial secrets.

On Wednesday, the three investigators walked out of a police station in the southeastern city of Ganzhou. They said they were released pending trial. “China Labor Watch hopes the court will provide the investigators with a fair trial,” the group said in a statement. The detention of the three men called increased attention to the Trump family’s global business dealings, renewing questions about labor conditions at Trump-linked factories as well as concerns about potential conflicts of interest. It is not clear why, exactly, the investigators were detained, or why they were released.



China Labor Watch has investigated violations at Chinese factories that make items for U.S. companies for years. The group’s founder, Li Qiang, told The Washington Post in May that this was the first time its investigators had been detained. “This never happened before in my 17 years’ experience,” he said then. “The only reason we think this case is different is that this is Ivanka Trump’s factory.”

Earlier that month, the organization issued an interim report on working conditions at factories that made Ivanka Trump-branded shoes. The report alleged that people employed by Huajian Group, a company that makes shoes for Trump and others, are forced to work at least 12 ½ hours a day and at least six days a week at a monthly salary of about 2,500 yuan, or $365. Li said his investigators found that workers were sometimes given only one or two days off per month. The factories offered no safety training, even though many employees come into contact with oils and glues, they reported. Huajian has contested the findings.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-activists-investigating-ivanka-trump-brand-factory-released-on-bail/2017/06/28/ef53425a-5be0-11e7-8e2f-ef443171f6bd_story.html?utm_term=.a51188f90f27

[Achilleaze]

1. lvanka finds the whole thing a bit boring

Can't we get back to offering undeserved complements to her dad, the Republican draft dodger in chief?

[niyad]

2. she would not like what I would say--about any of them.