Child Slave Labor in China

by Swan | March 4, 2009 at 12:44 pm

2435 views | 43 Recommendations | 7 comments

Just when we think we've heard the worst out of China, another atrocity rears its ugly head. This time it's the push for more child labor.

I know that some of you have read my articles on China in the past, but this information seems to have come out of left field.

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese education authorities should formulate a regulation on manual labor for schoolchildren as many kids in cities even do not clean their own classrooms, a political advisor has proposed.

One wonders what the Chinese would say if they ever had a close look at our theaters at the conclusion of a movie, or our children's bedrooms on a bad day.

While child labor is not much of a leap to comprehend, it is an impossible leap to condone. Even the good old USA had young sons working on farms (maybe still?) to help ease the manual labor their parents had to shoulder alone. Especially farms that were strapped for cash and couldn't hire farm hands.

The difference is it that they were well fed, had shoes and clothes, played with friends, went to school and could have sick days if they needed them.

This was use - not child abuse.

Feng Shiliang, member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said Monday he was concerned that manual labor such as sweeping has been outsourced by some urban primary and middle schools to property management companies.

"The students' ability for labor has been strangled," Feng said.

Why is Shiliang "concerned"? Surely China needs all the jobs it can muster for the millions of unemployed adult Chinese within its borders.

As of January 20th this year, Chinese unemployment has already soared to a new 30 year high at 18 million, or 9% of the workforce. Plus 1 million college graduates are going to find employment a scarce commodity this year.

Yin Weimin, China's social security minister, admits that the employment situation is "critical" with people looking for jobs where none exist.

So with all this unemployment for adults, why is Shiliang seeking to employ its young children?

He went on to say:

Many children in cities are doing little manual labor, as at home their parents do all the housework and at school labor is taken over by employees of property management companies, Feng added.

He refuted the pretext by some schools that manual labor might be "dangerous" for children. "It might be dangerous to clean windows of tall buildings, but how about the classrooms and playgrounds?"

The sad undertones of such thinking reveal children whose day will consist of morning chores before going to school; more chores at school; more chores when they return home from school and homework.

When do these children get to have fun, being silly and hanging out with their friends?

The advisor said he would submit a proposal to the upcoming annual session of the CPPCC National Committee, the country's top political advisory body, to suggest country's education authorities formulate a regulation on manual labor for schoolchildren.

This news is appalling even as it shines it's light on the Japanese ideal for children working manual labor. Shiliang informs us that that it's mandatory for Japanese students to do manual labor. In fact, Japanese schools specifically organize children to work in remote islands and villages.

The subtext there? Japanese children sent to work, away from the eyes of the world.

The China Economics Blog expands it's observations on unemployment:

As a global recession takes hold and China's economy continues to slow, growing legions of unemployed workers are becoming increasingly bold in expressing their unhappiness -- expanding a debate over how to protect the Chinese economy into long-fought disputes over other issues such as freedom of expression and equality before the law.

Equality before the law. Riiiigghht.

The photograph of the Chinese girl in a pink tracksuit, was snapped by Reuters last year after being rescued from a factory, where she had been forced to work in Dongguan, China.

Equality before the law? Give me a break!

SHANGHAI: China said Wednesday that it was investigating whether hundreds or perhaps thousands of children from poor areas in the southwest part of the country had been sold to work as slave laborers in booming coastal factory cities.

Authorities in southern Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong, said they had already rescued more than 100 children from factories in Dongguan, a huge manufacturing city known for producing and exporting toys, textiles and electronics.

It's already known that "employment agencies" in Sichuan Province force children 13 - 15 years old to work. These children don't even go to school. It's like something out of a horror movie - the agencies trick or kidnap children and send them to factory towns in Guangdong.

These kidnapped children are even younger than 13 years of age.

Imagine these sorrowful, displaced children forced to work as much as 300 hours a month. The following is a quote from the Child Labor Cases Uncovered in China and this information makes my skin crawl.

"These youngsters have no ID cards, so it makes it difficult to identify them," said Zhang Xiang, a spokesman for the Guangdong Labor Bureau. The child labor scandal was uncovered by Southern Metropolis Daily, a crusading newspaper based in Guangzhou, in southern China, less than a year after the authorities said they had rescued hundreds of people, including children, from working as "slave laborers" in brick kilns in the north and central part of the country.

In Liangshan, it was discovered that children were transported south and sold to factories. They received the equivalent of 43 cents per hour. Some children were threatened with death, if they tried to escape.

Where the hell is UNICEF?

Where is the International Labor Organization? (ILO)

Where is Zoe's Ark? The latter I know are busy in Darfur these days, but forcing children to slave labor in China has been a problem for decades.

* Back in 2005 the ILO ran an article on Child Slave Labor in China. It was nothing short of astounding.

No more will this reporter buy anything Chinese. I officially boycott a nation of people who unceasingly use children to make the products that are sold here and in other places. I will not have the fruit of sweat shops taking up residence in my home.

I know that my vehement protest alone carries little weight, if any - but if others also took up the cry ....

Sources:

IHSCS/News.org

Child Slave Labor in China

by Megan Grau

International Herald Tribune | Asia Pacific

Child Labor Cases Uncovered in China

by David Barboza

China Economics Blog

Unemployment Just Keeps Rising

China View

Political advisor: children in cities need more labor

NPC, CPPCC Annual Sessions 2009

Naked Capitalism

Chinese Unemployment Jumps, May Hit 30 Year High

Image Sources:

International Herald Tribune | Asia Pacific

Child Labor Cases Uncovered in China

China Daily, via Reuters

Bloomberg.com

National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

China Faces Worst Unemployment in Decades as Slowdown Deepens

by Li Yanping

* This link has been taken down since yesterday.

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recommend This comment thread is now closed

Barry Artiste

at 17:09 on March 4th, 2009

But.....But.......That's unpossible........the Commies said it ain't so! They wouldn't lie now would they? Welcome to WalMart Country!

sara star

at 15:02 on March 9th, 2009

Hey I shop there.... Shhh...

So it is illegal to have child labour but not illegal to buy their goods????

jackie huang

at 19:58 on March 4th, 2009

First,thank you for this article.I admit that in some place in China these things happens.But you should understand that our country ban this things,that's a criminal here.The police will investigate this things.And buy the way this news was one year ago,so it can be a news now.

I think you kinda misunderstand what the Feng Shiliang have said.As a Chinese college student ,I should tell you that it is ture that almost every students do not help the parents on the housework anymore,cause the homework is too heavy,and the parents think the most important thing of the students is study.We don't have much time to experience the work.When I was in the high school I wish I could do some part-time job .I think that's cool.But the govenment forbidden it.

In my high school we also need to do the chores at school.But you should understand it's not a heavy job,usually we just do it once a week,and it only takes 10 or 15 minutes to do it. And I think that's fun.

Swan

at 21:48 on March 4th, 2009

Hello Jackie,

Thank you for stopping by to read the article.

The news is actually current but I did use some material from the past to show that China has been well aware of this issue and they're not going to stop child slave labor anytime soon.

I agree with you, in that child slave labor is only in some parts of China - specifically those places that I mentioned in my article.

I also realize that in your high school, it's child labor and not child slave labor, but with the millions of unemployed in your country, it seems ludicrous to put children to work while adults are starving because they're unable to get a job.

You're also in high school, but I'm speaking of children much younger than you. The legal working age in China is 16 but there are so many articles about children far younger than you that are threatened with death if they run away.

My outrage is for the kidnapped children.

My outrage is for the abused children working in Dongguan and Liangshan whose parents have no idea where they are, they just disappeared one day and never came back.

If you enjoy cleaning up your school, that is certainly commendable, but have some compassion for these tragic children also.
~ Swan

Amy Judd

at 22:01 on March 4th, 2009

how can they want more child labour? Isn't that against human rights laws?

Paschen

at 22:18 on March 4th, 2009

I know off some illegal child labour in China, however when ever the Chinese government gets wind of it, they are rather fast to shut this down and punish the operators of such labour abuses severely.

The BBC had a rather good documentary out on this a couple of month ago. Worth looking up.