Ivanka Trump's brand distances itself from Chinese shoemaker

By ERIKA KINETZ

Ivanka Trump's fashion brand sought to distance itself from a Chinese manufacturer that has come under scrutiny after activists investigating labor conditions there were detained, saying the company last made its products three months ago.
In a statement released Wednesday, the brand's president, Abigail Klem, said Ivanka Trump shoes, which are made by licensing partner Mark Fisher, have not been produced since March at the Huajian Group factory where labor abuses occurred. 

She added "our licensee works with many footwear production factories and all factories are required to operate within strict social compliance regulations."
But it is unclear whether that was really the end of the relationship.
China Labor Watch, a New York nonprofit, began scrutinizing Ivanka Trump supply chains more than a year ago, according to Li Qiang, the group's executive director. 

Three China Labor Watch investigators went into Huajian Group factories undercover posing as workers in March, April and May of this year and found Ivanka Trump merchandise inside, Li said.
He said the investigators also found evidence of planned production, namely an April production schedule indicating pending orders for nearly 1,000 pairs of Ivanka Trump shoes due by the end of last month.
Now all three men are in jail, accused of using illegal recording devices to disrupt Huajian's business. The U.S. State Department and Amnesty International have spoken out against the arrests. 

So far, Ivanka Trump and her brand have not.
China Labor Watch laid out its initial allegations in an April letter to Ivanka Trump. 

It said workers regularly put in more than 15 hours a day, with just two days off a month. 

It said most were paid by the piece, taking home just $363 a month for 300 hours of work, and that managers verbally abuse workers.
"China Labor Watch expects you, as an assistant to the president and an advocate for women's rights, to urge your brand's supplier factories to improve their conditions," Li wrote in the letter. 

"Your words and deeds can make a difference in these factory workers' lives."
The Huajian Group says the undercover activists were out to steal trade secrets and denies the allegations of poor working conditions.
The arrest of independent monitors threatens to hamper the ability of global companies to adequately monitor their Chinese suppliers. 

China has rebuffed the State Department's request to release the activists, saying the men will be dealt with under China's own sovereign laws.
China has swept up hundreds of human rights lawyers and labor activists in recent years and has scrutinized groups with foreign ties, like China Labor Watch, much more closely.
Alicia Edwards, a State Department spokeswoman, said this week that the U.S. is concerned by "the pattern of arrests and detentions." 

Labor activists, she added, are instrumental in helping American companies understand conditions in their supply chains and holding Chinese manufacturers accountable under Chinese law.

Banana Republic: The Chinese Collusion

Activist probing factories making Ivanka Trump shoes in China arrested
By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump speaks at The MISK Event on the second day of his visit to Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 21, 2017. 

A man has been arrested and two are missing in China after conducting an investigation into a Chinese company making Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, China Labor Watch, a New York-based advocacy group, said on Wednesday.
Labor activist Hua Haifeng was arrested in Jiangxi province on suspicion of illegally using eavesdropping equipment, according to Li Qiang, executive director of the group China Labor Watch.
The three men had been investigating labor conditions at factories that produce shoes for Ivanka Trump, the daughter of  Donald Trump, and other Western brands, he said in an email.
"We appeal to Trump, Ivanka Trump herself, and to her related brand company to advocate and press for the release our activists," China Labor Watch said in the email to Reuters.
The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment while the White House and Ivanka Trump's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Calls to provincial police in Jiangxi and Ganzhou city police were not answered.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did know anything about the situation and declined further comment.
The reported arrest and disappearances come at a time of sustained pressure on labor activists in China amid a crackdown on civil society under Xi Jinping.
In recent years, many labor rights activists have reported being intimidated and harassed, detained, or restricted in their movement.
Li said in 17 years of activism, including investigations of hundreds of factories in China, his group had never had anyone arrested on suspicion of having committed a crime.
"This is the first time we've come across this kind of situation," he said, adding the accusation against Hua had "no factual basis".

'PROTECTION NOT PROSECUTION'
Rights group Amnesty International called for the release of the three if they were held only for investigating possible labor abuses at the factories.
"Activists exposing potential human rights abuses deserve protection not persecution," said William Nee, the group's China researcher.
"The trio appear to be the latest to fall foul of the Chinese authorities’ aggressive campaign against human rights activists who have any ties to overseas organizations, using the pretence of 'national security'."
China Labor Watch's Li said Hua and another investigator, Li Zhao, had worked covertly at a shoe factory in the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong province, that was owned by the Huajian Group.
The third investigator, Su Heng, had worked at a related factory in the city of Ganzhou in Jiangxi but went incommunicado after May 27. 

Both factories produced Ivanka Trump-branded shoes, Li Qiang said.
The investigators had discovered evidence that workers' rights had been violated, Li said.
Hua had been investigating a vocational school in Jiangxi affiliated with Huajian Group when he was arrested.
A woman surnamed Mu who said she was in charge of recruitment at Huajian said she had not heard about the case.
A switchboard operator at Huajian's headquarters declined to transfer Reuters to company officials in a position to address questions about the situation.
Hua and Li Zhao had been warned by authorities weeks ago that they were suspected of having broken the law, and were barred from crossing the border into Hong Kong in April and May, Li Qiang said.