Chinese Regime’s Approach to Human Trafficking Critiqued

CECC commission holds roundtable discussion on China and human trafficking.

OPPOSES POLICE RAIDS: Tiantian Zheng, Ph.D., professor, Anthropology, State University of New York, Cortland, has conducted ethnographic fieldwork on the sex trade in China. She says the police raids are counter-productive. She spoke on Capitol Hill, before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Aug. 21. Gary Feuerberg/ Epoch Times

Human trafficking, the transporting of human beings for purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation, involves profound issues of legal jurisdiction, criminal behavior, law enforcement, and human rights.

These issues are particularly problematic for a country like China, which in the past has often been unwilling to enter into international agreements or abide by its commitments. However, in the last year, the Chinese regime has acceded to the international standard—the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the TIP Protocol), after years of refusing to ratify it.

To discuss the TIP Protocol enforcement and the human trafficking problems in China in general, the CECC held on Aug. 20 a roundtable discussion. Panelists examined various examples of human trafficking in China.

Sen. Dorgan described a typical example of forced labor in China from his book on the subject. A woman, Ms. Li, working in a factory making stuffed animals for export collapsed and died at work. Ms. Li was working 16 hours a day, for two months without a day off, for 30 cents an hour, under appalling conditions—90 degrees and terrible air quality, said Dorgan.

Dorgan pointed out that China’s definition of human trafficking is narrower than the TIP Protocol. It does not prohibit forced labor. Also, Chinese law leaves out offenses committed against male victims. The regime’s announced plans at the national level for combating trafficking focuses mainly on women and children, according to CECC Oct. 2009 annual report.

Underground Economy

Earl Brown, labor law attorney China Program Director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, gave an example of how the forced labor trade in China operates. A young man he met from a pineapple plantation wanted to get away from the farm. A Chinese gang literally “shanghaied” him, held him for three weeks, put him on a vessel, where he fished near Indonesia, without pay and under force. He jumped overboard and swam to freedom to Indonesia and eventually returned to China, where a Hong Kong gang “shanghaied” him again.