Official Defends Response to Forced Labor Scandal

Yu Youjun, the former provincial governor of Shanxi province, described as "unparalleled" the punishment of 95 local Communist Party officials for their role in a scandal involving the enslavement of more than 1,300 people, including kidnapped children and mentally challenged adults, discovered working in Shanxi brick kilns in May and June 2007. According to an October 22, 2007, China Daily article, "About 8 of the 95 officials were expelled from the Party and lost their jobs, 30 were dismissed from their posts and more than 20 officials were demoted." The head of the provincial department of labor and social security and the mayors of Linfen and Yuncheng cities were "required to make a self-criticism at an official conference."

According to the China Daily, Yu said that the harshness of the punishments was unprecedented in Shanxi's history. "Officials at county and township levels are mainly responsible for the management of brick kilns and small mines, therefore we focused on them," Yu was quoted as saying. Authorities initially announced the punishments of the 95 officials in July 2007, according to a July 16 China Daily article. In July, a death sentence, life imprisonment, and other prison sentences were given to owners, managers, and employees at the kilns, according to a July 17 China Daily article. The October report noted that "life and even death sentences were given to five kiln owners, managers and guards."

In June, Yu apologized for the forced labor scandal and said he would take responsibility for it, according to a June 23 New York Times report. In September, the State Council appointed Yu as a vice-minister in the national Ministry of Culture, as well as Party chief within the Ministry, according to a September 7, 2007, Xinhua article. Yu was also named a Central Committee member at the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress held in October, as noted on the People's Daily Web site (undated).

As reported in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2007 Annual Report (via the Government Printing Office Web site), in May and June 2007, Chinese media and Internet activists uncovered a massive network of forced labor in brick kilns in Shanxi and Henan provinces. Reports indicated that people forced to work in the kilns included children and mentally challenged adults kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to the kilns, where they were beaten, denied food, and forced to work up to 20 hours per day.