(Minghui.org) To my knowledge, from 1999 to 2000, the following products were made at the Chongqing Women's Forced Labor Camp. It was a long time ago that I was imprisoned there, thus I can remember only some of the products. I hope others who have been detained there can add to the list.
Chongqing Shule Hygiene Products Limited
Legal Representative: Wu Quanxiu
Product information: sanitary napkins; infant and adult diapers, hygienic mattress pads;
Address: 88th Xinxi Road, Jiangbei District, Chongqing, China
1. Chongqing Shule sanitary napkins: The place of production is dusty and the environment dirty. Finished sanitary napkins were put into a dusty bamboo basket. An individual sanitary napkin was folded three times and put into a small package, and ten of these packages were put into a box. Drug-addicted inmates with skin diseases or sexually transmitted diseases were sometimes involved in folding the napkins. The skin of the hands of some of the workers was covered with a yellowish liquid. The unsanitary conditions shocked me. I thought, any woman who uses these napkins could easily contract a gynecological or sexually transmitted disease and she would not know the cause!
2. Processing belts for Japanese kimonos: This product--locally they called it “the ribbon--” is made with silk threads. The silk ribbons are woven together very tightly. Hence, a worker must use her index finger to hold down the ribbon and her other hand to hold a foot-long piece of wood with which she beats on it. Basically, all of the workers had cuts on their hands and their index fingers were injured. However, officials at the labor camp were only interested in making money. They required that the inmates continue to work with their index finger wrapped in gauze.
3. Tie-dyed tablecloths: A white homespun weave with a lot of patterns on it was given to inmates. They were to reproduce these patterns with sewing machines. The next step was to prepare these patterns for coloring through dyeing. After that, an inspector would check the quality of the work. Many inmates had to redo their work and put in extra time late in the evening. Supposedly, this product was exported to Japan.
4. Hemp purses: These were exported to Japan. When the Japanese wear kimonos, they carry a certain kind of purse. When making this product, the alignment of the linen lines is very strict, which is labor intensive. The lines must be straight at both the opening and the bottom of the purse during sewing.
5. The labor camp guards had the inmates work on whatever was profitable for them; for example, producing hats for travel agencies, Japanese denim aprons, Jiefang brand shoes, etc.
Making money was the top priority for the guards. They even used female inmates as prostitutes in exchange for a better business deal. The captain of the first brigade, Song Ping, noticed that the man in charge of business, Gong Jiong, favored a young drug-addicted inmate, Yu Wenjing, so she arranged it so that Yu Wenjing did quality inspection instead of production work. As the ribbon is difficult to make, one person can finish no more than two a day, so inspection would not have to be a full-time job. However,Yu Wenjing had a separate room as her office. People had to take finished products to her and she checked them. However, when Gong Jiong went to see her, sometimes the room was locked. With this arrangement, Captain Song Ping also required Gong Jiong to give her brigade more profits and easier business deals. Of course, Gong Jiong was happy to oblige.