Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1271-W887

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1271-W887

Release Date: Dec. 23, 2019

发布日：2019年12月23日

Topic: China Denies the Christmas Slave Labor in Prisons, What Is the Truth?

(Radio Free Asia report)

标题：中国否认监狱圣诞奴工事件，事实如何？ -- 自由亚洲电台记者郑崇生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

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China Denies the Christmas Slave Labor in Prisons, What Is the Truth?

-- Radio Free Asia report

2019-12-23

Recently, a 6-year-old girl in London, England, found a distress letter from a slave labor in Shanghai, China, in the Christmas cards she bought. The incident once again aroused public concern about the issue of slave labor in China, but the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the incident as "drama choreographed" on Dec. 23. What is the truth?

As the wishing you a Merry Christmas song states, it represents the season when Christmas gifts are collected. However, behind the gifts, it may be the accumulation of blood and sweat of prisoners in China who were forced to work.

Florence Widdicombe, a 6-year-old girl living in London, bought a set of charity greeting cards at the British supermarket chain Tesco. But when she opened one of the smiling Christmas cat cards, it was already full of text. It was written in all capital letters in English : "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu Prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organizations. Please contact Peter Humphrey."

Peter Humphrey is a former British journalist who served a sentence in China. He disclosed the news in the Sunday Times in the United Kingdom, and once again raised concerns about the darkness of the Chinese prisons and persecution of human rights.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded on the 23rd that this was a "drama choreography" made up by Humphrey and stressed that Shanghai Qingpu Prison does not have foreign prisoners subject to forced labor. However, Zhang Lin, a Chinese democracy activist, told Radio Free Asia that based on his experience in prisons and labor camps in Anhui and Guangzhou, forcing prisoners to work does happen in China as it happened to him. When he refused to cooperate, he was beaten by the guards. He believes that the same situation exists in Shanghai prisons.

Zhang Lin: "All Christmas lights in the world are assembled by Chinese prisoners, and they are mainly assembled by prisoners in detention centers. Not only Christmas lights, but also fake flowers. China is forcing prisoners to make these things that are very cheap industrial products in the world that require a lot of manual labor. Anything machines are not capable of doing, basically are all done by Chinese prisoners."

Zhang Lin said that prisoners in China work at least 16 hours a day and 7 days a week without rest. He had to insert so many sharp Christmas lights into the sockets to the degree that even fingertips bled. They were forced to work in prison with blood and tears of inhuman treatment, so that the world can be lit up with Christmas lights.

He also pointed out that 30 years ago, when he was forced to assemble matchboxes in prison, he also tried to hide information in the box seeking help. Therefore, it was no surprise to him to hear about the Chinese prisoners asking for help in the Christmas cards from Britain.

International human rights organizations have long been intensively concerned about the human rights situation in prisons in China. After years of the pressure from the international community, China abolished the "labor reform system" in 2001.

Wei Jingsheng, a democracy activist who has been imprisoned by the Chinese government for many years, said that China's removal of the black sign of "labor reform" does not mean that bad things that violate human rights in prisons do not exist.

Wei Jingsheng: "A feature of the human rights situation in China is that once the pressure from the international community has eased, Chinese prisons and police would restore a lot of old things. Moreover, not only are they restored, the police in the past at least obeyed some laws, but nowadays, the police are increasingly not complying with the law. Not only inside the prisons, but even outside the prison, as we all can observe it."

The website of Shanghai Qingpu Prison, which holds Chinese and foreign criminals, claims to be a "window to show the civilization of the rule of law in China and a platform for Chinese cultural exchange"; the accused Zhejiang Yunguang Printing Co.. was interviewed by the Global Times (in China), which denied it.

Peter Humphrey and his American wife were in Shanghai Qingpu Prison for two years for "false accusations." He said he had volunteered to work in prison for the pennies he needed. After his release in June 2015, he was deported from China.

This is not the first incident of prisoners exposing forced labor in Chinese prisons manufacturing products sold to Europe and America. Human rights groups have criticized the Chinese slave labor as a human tragedy.

Free Asia Radio reporter Rita Cheng reports from Washington DC

Editor: He Ping; Internet editor: Guo Du

Link of the original report:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/rc-12232019135838.html

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1271-W887

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1271-W887

Release Date: Dec. 23, 2019

发布日：2019年12月23日

Topic: China Denies the Christmas Slave Labor in Prisons, What Is the Truth?

(Radio Free Asia report)

标题：中国否认监狱圣诞奴工事件，事实如何？ -- 自由亚洲电台记者郑崇生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2019/report2019-12/forcedlabor191223RFAinterviewA1271-W887.htm

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中国否认监狱圣诞奴工事件，事实如何？

--自由亚洲电台记者郑崇生

2019-12-23

近日，英国伦敦一位6岁女孩在购买的圣诞卡中，发现一封来自中国上海监狱奴工的求救信。事件再次引发外界有关针对中国监狱奴工问题的关注，但中国外交部23日反驳该事件为"编造的闹剧"。事实究竟如何？

祝你圣诞快乐的歌声传唱，代表着收取圣诞礼物的季节到来。不过收礼的背后，却可能是在中国遭关押犯人被强迫劳动的血汗堆积而成。

居住在伦敦的一名6岁女童维迪柯姆（Florence Widdicombe）在英国连锁超市特易购（Tesco）购买了套装慈善贺卡，但当她打开其中一张微笑圣诞猫的卡片却已经写满文字，英文大写写着："我们是上海青浦监狱的外国囚犯，遭强迫劳动。请帮助我们，通知人权组织并联络韩飞龙（Peter Humphrey）。"

韩飞龙是曾在中国服刑的英国前记者。他在英国《星期天泰晤士报》披露上述消息后，再次引发外界对中国监狱黑暗及迫害人权情况的关注。

尽管中国外交部发言人耿爽23日回应称，这是韩飞龙编造出来的闹剧；强调上海青浦监狱没有外籍罪犯遭强制劳动。不过，中国民运人士张林以自身经历告诉自由亚洲电台，他在安徽与广州的监狱及劳教场所都待过，中国强迫狱中犯人劳动就发生在他身上，并曾因拒绝配合，在狱中遭劳教人员殴打。他相信，上海监狱的情况一样存在。

张林："全世界所有的圣诞灯都是中国的囚徒组装的，而且都是以看守所的囚徒为主组装的。不光是圣诞灯，还有假花，就是塑料花，中国都是强迫囚徒做这些事情，就是这个世界上非常廉价的工业品，需要大量手工劳动的，机器无法胜任的，基本上都是中国的囚徒做的。"

张林说，中国狱中的犯人一天至少要工作16个小时，一周工作7天，不让休息。像他一样，插圣诞灯入座甚至到手指尖流血，被迫在狱中劳动的血泪与非人待遇，让全世界能点亮圣诞灯。

他还指出，30年前，他在狱中被迫组装火柴盒时，自己也曾试着在火柴中夹藏求救资讯。所以，他对英国传出圣诞贺卡中夹藏的中国囚犯求救信，一点都不意外。

国际人权组织长期高度关注中国的监狱人权状况。在国际社会多年的压力下，中国于2001年废除了"劳动改造制度"。

曾遭中国政府关押多年的民运人士魏京生表示，中国拿掉"劳改"黑招牌，却并不代表狱中破坏人权的坏事就不存在。

魏京生："中国的人权状况有个特点，就是国际社会的压力一旦减轻了，中国的监狱和警察就把很多旧的东西又都恢复了。而且，不但是恢复了，过去的警察还遵守一些法律，现在警察是越来越不遵守法律，不光是在监狱里面，在监狱外头，大家都能观察到。"

关押中国和外籍罪犯的上海青浦监狱，其网站自诩为"展示中国法治文明的窗口和中华文化交流的平台"；而被指控的印刷厂浙江云广印业有限公司接受《环球时报》采访，则否认此事。

韩飞龙过去与美国籍妻子也曾因"虚假指控"，被关押于上海青浦监狱近2年。他说，自己曾在有微薄收入的情况下，自愿在狱中劳动。他2015年6月获释后，被中国驱逐出境。

这已经不是第一起囚犯通过销售到欧美国家的产品，曝光中国监狱的强迫劳动事件。人权组织批评，中国的狱中奴工事件是人间悲剧。

自由亚洲电台记者郑崇生华盛顿报道

责编：何平；网编：郭度

报道的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/rc-12232019135838.html

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