U. S. Presses China to Free Activists Scrutinizing Ivanka Trump Shoe Factory -

U. S. Presses China to Free Activists Scrutinizing Ivanka Trump Shoe Factory -
By KEITH BRADSHERJUNE 6, 2017
SHANGHAI — China faces growing pressure to release three labor activists detained for investigating conditions at factories
that make Ivanka Trump’s shoe brand, as experts warned that the detentions could make it more difficult for other Western companies to take a clear look at the practices of their Chinese suppliers.
“To the extent that a brand will only purchase items
that it is confident were produced free of labor abuse, limitations on independent monitors present a serious obstacle to doing business in a jurisdiction,” said Aaron Halegua, a research fellow at New York University’s Center for Labor and Employment Law,
It is not clear why the three labor activists, who were working for an activist group called China Labor Watch,
were detained while others were not, or whether the connection to President Trump’s daughter played a role.
While activists in general are commonly detained in China, labor experts say
that this represents the first time that China has held undercover labor activists looking at the supply chains of Western companies.
The company last made a batch of the Ivanka Trump brand in March,
and was planning to do another batch at the end of May, before the activists were detained, China Labor Watch said
“There is no doubt that a statement by the Ivanka Trump organization, expressing deep concern over the detention of labor activists striving to improve
working conditions, would be helpful to their situation,” said Mr. Cohen, an influential academic since the 1960s on China’s legal system.