The Godfather's Daughter

China factory for Ivanka Trump brand shoes criticized for labor violations
By Kevin McCoy

File photo taken in June 2017 shows men at the entrance gate of a Huajian Group shoe factory in Ganzhou, in southeastern China's Jiangxi Province.

A China factory that has produced shoes for the Ivanka Trump brand is the worst labor rule violator among dozens of similar production facilities checked by undercover investigators, an advocacy organization said Wednesday.
Workers at the Huajian factory in Jiangxi, a province in southeast China, typically put in 15-hour days, with just two days off each month, according to a report by China Labor Watch, a group that since 2000 has investigated workplace conditions at Chinese facilities that supply many of the world's best-known companies and brands.
Workers assigned to produce shoes for Easy Spirit's brand were forced to remain at work until 1:30 a.m. making changes in late May after a representative of the U.S. company complained that the manufacturing work was of "inferior quality," the report said.
The factory's employees were verbally and physically abused, and had to wait until late April to receive payment for hours they worked in March, the report said.

Additionally, the workers were paid roughly $352 for 350 monthly work hours, below that China's labor law stipulates, the report added.
Along with producing shoes for the Trump brand and Easy Spirit, the factory has done work for such well-known U.S. companies as Marc Fisher Footwear, Nine West, Karl Lagerfeld, Naturalizer, and Guess, the report said.
Nonetheless, the factory "is the worst among the dozens of factories we have investigated over the past year," the report concluded.
Factory representatives could not be located for comment.
Three undercover investigators for China Labor Watch who checked the production center and interviewed workers in March or April abruptly disappeared in May and are believed to have been arrested by Chinese authorities. 

“We urge China to release them immediately and otherwise afford them the judicial and fair trial protections to which they are entitled,” Alicia Edwards, a U.S. Department of State spokeswoman, said in a statement earlier this month.
China has rejected calls for the men's release.
"So far, we haven't heard anything," Li Qiang, the advocacy group's executive director, said in a telephone interview conducted through a Mandarin translator on Wednesday. 

He repeated previous entreaties for Trump's company and other U.S. manufacturers to help win the investigators' release.
Trump removed herself from day-to-day involvement with her brand in January. 

Her spokeswoman did not respond to an email seeking comment. 

In a written statement, Ivanka Trump President Abigail Klem said the company's shoes had not been produced at the factory since March.
"Our licensee works with many footwear production factories and all factories are required to operate within strict social compliance regulations," the statement said.
Marc Fisher, Trump's footwear licensee, said it "does not comment on its business procedures or strategies." 

Other companies cited in the China Labor Watch report did not respond to emails seeking comment.

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.

China's Soft Power

China 'fake sanitary pads' scam sparks health concerns
By Kerry Allen

Over 10 million fake sanitary towels have been seized in southeast China

The discovery of a huge "fake sanitary towel" operation in southeast China has prompted fears about the possible impact on women's health.
Police in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, say they have arrested two suspects believed to have produced millions of the fakes in dirty facilities.
The fakes are thought to have gone on sale across China since 2013.
Chinese authorities have warned against buying discounted products, saying there could be serious health risks.
The Nanchang Public Security Bureau says it seized fake sanitary towels with a resale value of more than 40m yuan ($5.9m; £4.8m) in a factory with no disinfection facilities.
The fakes were then sold in supermarkets under the trademarks of leading Chinese brands such as ABC or Whisper, the Nanchang News reported.
It is not yet clear whether they were distributed internationally.
Consumers have been urged to check the packaging before buying because the colouring of the fake products is reportedly slightly darker.

This Weibo post by People's Daily received over 14,000 comments

#SanitaryNapkins
The scandal was one of the biggest talking points in Chinese social media on Thursday.
Tens of thousands of Sina Weibo microblog users posted under the hashtags #Over10MillionFakeSanitaryTowels and #SanitaryNapkins.
Some social media users have called for the "evil" suspects to be given the death penalty.
"Why would someone want to hurt me at my most vulnerable?" asked social media user Sdanler.
Another social media user, zhou6665, said someone she knew bought fake sanitary towels and suffered a urinary tract infection followed by inflammation.
Others warned that women in rural China could be especially at risk, as they have less access to information and are more reliant on cut-price products.