Activists decry brutal Chinese factories, WalMart, Nike sited

By Gay Alcorn

Washington, DC, May 12— A day after a White House power rally of presidents and former presidents urged that China be embraced into the world trading system, Harry Wu held up a Nike shoe and said: “Don’t lie to me.”

Mr. Wu, a Chinese human rights activist who survived 19 years in a prison labor camp, shook with anger at political and business arguments that a crucial congressional trade vote this month was about more than making money.

The vote on granting China permanent normal trading relations, which means ending an annual review of its human rights record before getting favorable access to US markets, has emerged as the most crucial foreign policy decision this year.

Citing what they call new evidence of sweatshop conditions in Chinese factories, former Chinese political prisoners Harry Wu and Wei Jingsheng urged Congress on Wednesday to delay a scheduled vote on granting Beijing permanent trading privileges.

The two Chinese human rights activists joined the National Labor Committee for Human Rights (NLCHR) at a news conference in Washington to present a report detailing “brutal working conditions” in Chinese factories making products for US companies like Nike Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc..

The labor committee said on Tuesday that its report disclosed previously unknown locations of Chinese factories and contained “shocking” photographs taken inside the plants and the dormitories where workers —primarily young women— live.

The group said it had documented wages as low as three cents an hour, the provision of only one bathroom for 24 people, 98-hour workweeks, compulsory unpaid overtime, a ban on talking during work hours, 24-hour surveillance and factory temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Citing the study, Wu, Wei and the other activists asked Congress to delay voting on legislation that would grant permanent normal trade relations to China. They insist that US companies first disclose the location of their factories and allow independent monitors to visit Chinese factories and report to Congress.

Wu became a US citizen after spending 19 years in Chinese prison camps. He has carried out underground investigations into China’s system of forced labor and has written several books on the subject.

With Democratic support wavering on the proposed bill, President Bill Clinton is reportedly considering an address to the nation this week.

Former president Jimmy Carter told the White House gathering that a refusal by Congress would be a serious impediment to further democracy, freedom and human rights in China.

“I just hope these people will be honest,” Mr. Wu said at the release of a report claiming Chinese workers in factories making American goods were indentured servants, were paid less than subsistence wages, slept in cramped dormitories, and got one day off a month. In many cases, they were paid less than workers in state-owned factories.

“They’re concerned about business rights, not human rights. It’s fine...[but] don’t lie to the American people,” Mr. Wu said.

In a deal late last year, China agreed to open a wide range of markets from agriculture to telecommunications, in exchange for permanent low tariff access to the US. The deal was part of China’s negotiations to enter the World Trade Organization, and the Clinton Administration and business leaders say China would buy goods elsewhere if the US refuses to forgo annual reviews.

The issue has moved beyond trade to include the symbolism of what opponents say is rewarding China for its human rights abuses, and whether Washington’s foreign policy rhetoric about human rights was taking second place to business demands for access to 1.2 billion Chinese consumers.

A State Department report this year said China’s human rights record deteriorated in 1999.

Mr. Wu and fellow dissident Mr. Wei Jingsheng said the report prepared by the National Labor Committee for Human Rights showed that claims that engagement with China was improving worker conditions were false.

The report, Made In China, investigated 16 companies including Nike, the world’s largest retailer; Wal-Mart; and Timberland.

At a Qin Shi factory where Wal-Mart handbags were made, undercover investigators found young women working up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week for 3 cents an hour, and almost half were in debt to the company because of deductions for board.

Most workers were young women, with a Nike contractor in a Lizhan factory advertising for females only, age 18-25. Complaining about conditions or getting pregnant led to sackings.

American partners are more than willing to look the other way, Mr. Wu said.

“Everybody likes workers to have low wages, right? And China has the lowest wages. That’s why they want to go over there.”

Mr. Wu said while a congressional defeat of trading privileges to China may not change conditions, it would be a signal that human rights were important, and would be one of many decisions that would ultimately end communism in China.

Charles Kernaghan, the executive director of the NLCHR, said he spent months with Chinese human rights activists researching the report inside China’s Guangdong and Shandong provinces, where they interviewed workers and infiltrated some factories and dormitories.

In a statement about the report, the group said “inhuman conditions” had been found at plants making products for Nike, New Balance, Timberland Co., Huffy Corp., Spiegel Inc., Jansport, the Kathie Lee Gifford label at Wal-Mart and other US companies.

China implemented a new labor law in January 1995, limiting the work week to 40 hours and overtime to 36 hours per month, but labor activists say there are regular violations.

Under current law, China’s trade status comes up for congressional review each year.

But as part of a landmark trade agreement ushering China into the World Trade Organization, the White House has said Congress must do away with these annual reviews and grant Beijing permanent normal trade relations status.

Source: Washington Herald, Reuters