Last night, Canada's CBC aired an expose on Chinese Laogai forced labor product imports to the Canadian construction company Inland Screw Piling.  The segment featured Laogai Research Foundation's (LRF) latest report "Building on the Backs of Prisoners: Examining the Imports of a Canadian Construction Company," being released today.

"Building on the Backs of Prisoners" highlights the trade of over US$300,000 worth of goods between Inland Screw Piling in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and a Laogai forced labor prison camp in Henan Province, China. LRF also uncovered the sales contract between Inland Screw Piling and the Laogai enterprise signed by Inland Screw Piling President and Sales Manager, Harry Knelson.

Additionally, LRF, under the guise of a made-up business, acquired a sales contract to import over US$140,000 of goods to the U.S. from the same Chinese Laogai forced labor prison enterprise.

As these two instances demonstrate, it is not only possible for Chinese forced labor prison products to be imported to North America, but it is in fact quite easy to import Laogai products. The import of Laogai products occurs in violation of Chinese export regulations, Canadian import regulations, and U.S. tariff law.

Laogai survivor and LRF executive director Harry Wu said of the situation, "This case is merely an example of the continuous stream of Laogai products into North America. We cannot forget that the prisoners making these products are forced to do so and that many of them are just like Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo:  political prisoners."

Wu continued, "When President Obama and Hu Jintao sit down next week to talk economic policy and human rights, Obama would be remiss not to condemn China's export of Laogai products to the United States."  Furthermore, "The importation of Laogai products to the U.S. undermines our economy and our position as a world leader in human rights."

Today, Laogai Research Foundation released its latest action report “Bodies on Display: The Risks in Trading in Human Remains from China.” You can download the report here. This current report details the controversy surrounding Premier Exhibition, Inc., the use of “unclaimed” Chinese bodies in its traveling exhibitions and provides ideas for future action. Key topics discussed in the report include:

• China’s prolific execution of prisoners and the sale of their organs and bodies for profit
• A case study detailing the risks run by foreign corporations who trade in human remains from China
• Government action taken on these suspicions to date
• Possible courses of future action to raise awareness of the bourgeoning black market trade in bodies from China

For more information on China's death penalty and organ harvesting, see our fact sheet: "China's Death Penalty: Profiting from Execution."
 

Download here

Today, Laogai Research Foundation released its latest report: "Not for Sale: Advertising Forced Labor Products for Illegal Export." This current report expands on LRF’s previous works, Laogai Handbook: 2007-2008 and “Laogai Forced Labor Camps Listed in Dun & Bradstreet Databases." Our Laogai Handbook lists all known Laogai camps in China and the “Laogai Forced Labor Camps Listed in Dun & Bradstreet Databases” report details 314 entries for Laogai enterprises in the international business database Dun and Bradstreet. Our key findings in this current report include:

• Over 100 Laogai enterprises are advertising or are listed in English on the Internet, suggesting the intent to export Laogai products to international markets, including the U.S.
• In many cases, Laogai enterprises are actively requesting to be listed on international trade sites
• Several of the listing sites translate enterprise entries into multiple European languages
• The Chinese government actively promotes the trade of Laogai products, illegal under Chinese export regulations, through listings on China Commodity Net, a Chinese government sponsored website

(Click the report cover on the right to download the whole report (PDF))

Read the latest on the report launch from Deutsche Presse Agentur:  "China is still marketing for export products made by forced labour in prisons, nearly 20 years after such exports were first exposed, the US-based Laogai Research Foundation said on Thursday. A survey by the foundation found 120 English-language online advertisements marketing enterprises with known connections to China's penal system."(Read more)