While unveiling a new State Department report on June 27, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson slammed China and North Korea as among the worst offenders in human trafficking and forced labor today, and held China responsible for the tens of thousands of North Korean workers in China who essentially work as slaves there.
The congressionally mandated Trafficking in Persons Report, compiled annually by the State Department, seeks to assess government efforts around the world to combat human trafficking. The 2017 edition contains assessments for 187 countries and territories, including the United States.
The report ranks countries in three tiers, of which the Tier 3 status is the lowest and indicates a country has failed to satisfy even the minimum standards to combat human trafficking. Previously, China was placed on the Tier 2 “watch list” for three consecutive years, and has now been downgraded to Tier 3 as of this year’s report.
In his remarks, Tillerson said that China is downgraded to Tier 3 status in part because “it hasn’t taken serious steps to end its own complicity in human trafficking.” Furthermore, Tillerson said that China needs to be held responsible for complicity in allowing forced labor by North Koreans to exist in China unchecked.
