Activists Investigating Ivanka Trump Factories Detained In China

FEATURING MANFRED ELFSTROM –  Ivanka Trump is in the news again, this time over her business. A Chinese company that has made Ivanka Trump brand shoes has been singled out for serious labor violations and now three activists with the US-based China Labor Watch who documented the violations have gone missing. One of them was revealed to have been arrested by the Chinese government for illegal surveillance. It is not clear what happened to the other two.

A spokesperson for the Huajian Group factories has denied the allegations of labor abuses. The US company Marc Fisher, which produces the Ivanka Trump shoes told press that they will investigate the allegations.

China is not just a lucrative place for American manufacturers, it is also a prime market and earlier this year Ivanka Trump won permission from the Chinese government to sell her brand of clothing, jewelry and other products in China soon after meeting with the Chinese President. But that meeting took place in her capacity as the President’s adviser, prompting ethics concerns.

Find more about this story at www.chinalaborwatch.org.

Manfred Elfstrom, post-doctoral candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center, formerly with China Labor Watch.