ameliapang

I was in college when I wrote for them. I stopped writing for them 5 years ago. At the time, they weren't a right-wing publication yet. That all happened very recently. I wouldn't have written for them if they were. Their views do not represent my views at all.

I didn't go inside. But I had conversations with guards and other camp employees, who confirmed the prisoners inside did manufacturing work. I also called several camps and whoever answered the phone always transferred me to their sales department when I told them I wanted to source from them. If you want to see what the camps look like inside, here's some footage:

CBS did a great undercover investigation in 1991. (Sadly, not much has changed since 1991) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXh0gVSlkgA

There's also this VR documentary that takes people inside Uyghur re-education camps. It's based on accounts from survivors. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/16/xinjiang-reeducated-documentary-uyghur-china-vr/

I received a modest advance from Algonquin Books. That's it.

It has. A lot of times, our companies are not giving their factories enough time to make products according to ethical standards. When the production deadlines are too short because everyone is trying to capitalize as much as they can on the latest fast fashion trends, then factories have no choice but to outsource work to shady places like labor camps, where detainees can work 15-20 hours a day to meet our demands. This is connected to us, and the way that we shop as global consumers. I try not to buy new clothes all the time anymore, just because it's a new trend. I'm okay with wearing the same outfits for years at a time.

That's a great question. It's hard for even unannounced audits to detect something as hidden as unauthorized subcontracting to labor camps. Can you find a way to rewrite the contract...to say you may be sending someone to follow their trucks to see which suppliers they're really subcontracting to? Right now, the message that a lot of these factories get is: "We don't tolerate forced labor. But we're not really going to check." If you can find a way to send a different message, to show them you're serious about not having forced labor in your supply chain...that could be really helpful.