UN Expert: Chinese Government Needs “Genuine Accountability”

Posted on 2016-08-26 by wrchina

Source： UN

Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, released a statement today in Beijing saying that while China’s achievements in alleviating extreme poverty in recent years have been “extraordinary,” that progress has been accompanied by “very high levels of inequality,” a “very weak . . . legislative framework for recognizing economic and social rights,” and “a carefully designed law and order Pincer Movement . . . to significantly reduce the options for seeking redress or letting off steam through any legal or administrative mechanisms.”

Alston’s statement came at the end of his nine-day fact-finding mission to China (August 15-23), his first official visit to the country to assess the effectiveness of efforts by the Chinese government to eradicate poverty and “how such efforts are anchored in its international human rights obligations.”

Alston stresses that the elimination of extreme poverty cannot be achieved if states treat economic and social rights as mere aspirational or development goals rather than as human rights. He also advocates that a robust framework for insuring the respect and protection of those rights must include three key components: recognition of those rights in domestic law, institutional support for their promotion, and accountability mechanisms for their implementation. Alston identifies major weaknesses in the Chinese system in all three aspects, particularly in government accountability, citing political interference in the courts—by the Party’s Political and Legal Affairs Committees, Zhengfawei—as a major obstacle to the independence of the judiciary, and leaving “little room for optimism.”

In addition to structural and systemic weaknesses, Alston describes what he sees as a “Pincer Movement” in recent developments that combines law and police power to suppress civil society participation and reduce the means for citizens to hold officials accountable for rights violations. These developments include the crackdowns on human rights lawyers and labor lawyers which, in Alston’s view, have “made it difficult for lawyers to be other than governmental facilitators.” In addition, the Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations’ Activities within Mainland China will, when it comes into force in 2017, subject domestic and foreign NGOs to severe restrictions as well as criminal sanctions in the name of “national interests” or “society’s interests”—phrases that Alston deems “problematically open-ended and discretionary.”

The suppression of civil social participation “will generate increasing pressure for mass protests, which are generally met with repressive measures,” Alston warns. “The challenge therefore is to develop mechanisms which enable genuine accountability to be sought by private citizens alleging violations of their rights.”

In his statement, Alston noted substantive impediments to an accurate assessment about extreme poverty caused by the unreliability and unavailability of certain official data. Logistics also presented problems for his mission. In interviews with the media, Alston voiced concerns about official restrictions on his ability to meet with private individuals. He told Reuters that he had notified the government in advance of academics he wanted to meet, but that “[n]one of these meetings were arranged, and the message I got from many of the people I contacted was that they had been advised that they should be on vacation at this time.”

Such official restrictions violate the terms of reference set out in UN protocols for country visits by special rapporteurs on fact-finding missions. In particular, certain guarantees and facilities should be provided by host governments, including “freedom of inquiry, in particular as regards . . . contacts with representatives of non-governmental organizations, other private institutions and the media [and] confidential and unsupervised contact with witnesses and other private persons, including persons deprived of their liberty, considered necessary to fulfil the mandate of the special rapporteur.”

The initial request for a fact-finding visit was made by a previous mandate holder back in 2005. The Chinese government took 11 years to agree to the visit. It is one of only three visits by UN experts allowed by China since 2010. There are currently 12 outstanding requests for visits by other UN experts.

Alston is scheduled to submit his final report to the UN in June 2017.

Testimony of Su Yutong Before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), Washington, D.C.

Posted on 2016-08-21 by wrchina

May 24,2016

My name is Su Yutong. I am a journalist and activist based in Germany. In June, 2010, after I made public the personal diary of former Chinese Premier Li Peng, my house was ransacked by the police and I was forced to leave China. In August that year, I became a journalist with the Chinese section of Deutsche Welle where I wrote and published nearly 1,500 articles, most of which were about human rights and political affairs in China. The human rights lawyers and activists I reported included Chen Guangcheng, Ilham Tohti, Gao Zhisheng and Gao Yu. All of this work annoyed the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its state-owned newspaper Global Times attacked me in an article in August, 2014, for “constantly criticizing and vilifying China.”

Su, Yutong (left) was at the hearing. After the hearing,WRIC’s Jing Zhang，Ann Lau, Cheng Guangcheng, and other supporters were photographed. (By WRIC Jing Zhang 05-24-2016)

Before I came to the United States to participate in this hearing, I was in contact with Chinese journalist Gao Yu and the family members of detained human rights lawyers. Gao, aged 72, had already been jailed twice. She was arrested and sentenced to prison in April, 2014, for a third time, on charges evidently fabricated by the Chinese Communist Party. The real reason for her imprisonment was retaliation for an article she published in her Deutsche Welle column “Beijing Observer” which criticized Xi Jinping. I was her executive editor at the time. Last November, after Gao Yu was released on medical parole, the University of Bonn hospital was preparing to provide comprehensive treatment for her. And the German Ambassador to China issued her a visa to Germany. But the CCP authorities prevented Gao from leaving China for her medical treatment and ordered she remain silent.

Since July 9th, 2015, the Chinese government has been conducting a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists. The wives of several detained lawyers asked me to bring two videos to this hearing. To this day, these women have been unable to visit their husbands in custody. No one knows what abuses these incarcerated lawyers and activists have been suffering. These women are appealing again to the international community for assistance. (I would like to request to show these two video clips at the hearing.)

At this hearing today, there is not enough time to tell the stories of all the human rights activists in China. Since Xi Jinping took power, China’s human rights conditions have worsened constantly. The most courageous and outstanding people in China today are now in prison or on the way to prison. I am hoping such a human rights disaster will receive more media coverage and more attention from the international community. But there’s one dangerous trend, that is how the CCP has reached its arms of news control overseas, as part of its “Great Overseas Propaganda Strategy.” Such strategies include cross-border censorship and infiltration, attempting to muzzle international media in their coverage of China’s worsening human rights conditions. As a journalist, I urge the Congress to pay more attention to this reality.

In 2011, Li Congjun, the head of Xinhua News Agency, described in a article in the Wall Street Journal the “new global media order”. Hundreds of Confucius Institutes proliferate around the world as an important part of China’s overseas propaganda campaign. The Chinese government has been pouring large amount of money in buying up overseas newspapers and radio networks. Benjamin Ismail , Asia Director of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says RSF found a number of digital radio stations in Paris that had been secretly run by proxy companies operated by the Chinese government. In November, 2015, Reuters also reported that WCRW, a radio station based in Washington, D.C., has China International Radio, a Communist Party mouthpiece, as its hidden major shareholder. The radio waves of this station cover the entire Washington, D.C. region, including the Capitol Hill and the White House.

According to an investigation by Reuters, there are already 33 radio stations around that world that are affiliated with China International Radio. Numerous media outlets with the Chinese government as the controlling shareholder scatter throughout the world. And they hire local workers. At the press conferences during the annual sessions of National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, CCP officials invited reporters from fake overseas media to ask pre-arranged, non-sensitive questions.

Buying off and cracking down—these are the two tactics being adopted in Hong Kong, once a paradise for books banned in China. Hong Kong publisher Yiu Mantin was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in China for publishing the book “Xi Jinping, China’s Godfather.” In March, relatives of New York-based activist Wen Yunchao (also known as Bei Feng) and German-based political commentator Chang Ping were detained and interrogated in relation to an open letter calling on Xi Jinping to resign.

Under the CCP’s media control, a number of overseas and online Chinese-language media outlets have been serving as platforms to learn about a real China. When I was young, I secretly listened to Voice of America which is was and is still banned in China. These media outlets have now become targets of the CCP’s incessant efforts at control. Chinese embassies and consulates around the world have started to play the role of the Ministry of Propaganda.

In 2013, my former employer Deutsche Welle hired Peter Limbourg as its new director. Soon after he assumed the post, Mr. Limbourg paid a visit to the Chinese division and told the staff that he had met with Shi Mingde, China’s Ambassador to Germany. Mr. Limbourg demanded that the Chinese division not always criticize the Chinese authorities and should “appropriately encourage” them instead. In 2014, Mr. Limbourg hired Frank Sieren, a German businessman who is a long-term resident of Beijing. Mr. Sieren has had numerous business cooperations with the CCP’s mouthpieces Global Times and China Central Television. In September, 2014, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported the minutes of an April meeting between Deutsche Welle and China’s Ambassador to Germany, which clearly revealed that the Chinese Embassy demanded Deutsche Welle change.

On June 4, 2014, Frank Sieren published an article in Deutsche Welle, in German and Chinese languages, describing Tiananmen Massacre as “a slip-up by the CCP.” The piece sparked a public outcry from a number of pro-democracy activists and massacre survivors. I was a signatory to an open letter protesting this article. I spoke up against the article on Twitter. Soon afterwards, the deputy director and the director of the Deutsche Welle Chinese division, both of whom were highly critical of Mr. Sieren’s article, were shifted to other positions. Meanwhile, I was fired by Deutsche Welle.

In late August, 2014, Mr. Limbourg traveled to Beijing to attend a Chinese-German media symposium hosted by CCP mouthpiece Global Times. At the same time, I published an open letter to him in the New York Times saying that “the voice of China” is currently attempting to use economic seduction and coercion to expand its “great overseas propaganda” campaigns around the world. My wishful thinking was that Mr. Limbourg, under the warm reception of Global Times, would not be drowned in Chinese wine and succumbed to become a tool in the CCP’s “overseas propaganda campaigns.” Much to my regret, Mr. Limbourg met with Wang Gengnian, the head of China Radio International, in Beijing on August 28, 2014. Mr. Limbourg said that Deutsche Welle’s coverage would fit into the guidance and direction set by China. Soon afterwards, he announced a cooperative framework between Deutsche Welle and China Central Television (CCTV). In early 2015, Germany’s Bundestag took note of this cooperation program and conducted a hearing. Deutsche Welle announced that it would temporarily suspend its cooperation with CCTV.

Meanwhile, Frank Sieren continues to write a column for Deutsche Welle. In 2008, another scandal took place at Deutsche Welle, when a DW reporter named Zhang Danhong lied on a German TV program that the human rights conditions in China were excellent. She was moved to another division at DW after protests. But in early 2015, Ms. Zhang was quietly returned to the Chinese department of DW, and was given her own column. All of these changes are sending subtle signals.

The CCP has been continuously expanding its scope of censorship. On May 10th, German legislator Michael Brand told the media that he was denied entry to China because of his criticism of China’s Tibet policy. Mr. Brand, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag, said the Chinese Embassy in Germany sent people to meet with him in person, demanding him delete his articles on Tibet from his official website. They also demanded Mr. Brand not to attend a meeting with a Tibetan human rights organization. Mr. Brand said such behaviors by the Chinese Communist Party are blatant and absurd, and it’s unacceptable that the CCP exports its censorship to Germany.

Mr. Brand’s stance is very clear and of great importance. We hope politicians in countries throughout the world dare to say “no” to the CCP. In recent years, as China has achieved economic progress, numerous countries choose silence and compromise on China’s human rights abuses in exchange for contracts with the Chinese government. The most notable is the U.S. President Barack Obama who has been very weak and compromising when facing China’s human rights issues. The Chinese government nowadays dares to reach its long arms to control the world, one factor is the brutal politics since Xi Jinping took power. The other reason is the appeasement from a number of countries.

As a media worker, I urge democratic countries to take notice of CCP’s propaganda campaigns overseas, and its infiltration and disturbance of the freedom of press. The United States and other countries should organize investigations into China’s infiltration of press freedom and media outlets established by the CCP; As a human rights activist, I am here to criticize and expose the increased crackdowns and persecution of human rights activists by the Chinese Communist government, especially under Xi Jinping’s regime; I hereby request democratic governments not to neglect human rights conditions in China. Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy said his speech at West Berlin’s Schöneberg Rathaus (City Hall) in 1963: “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.”

Finally, please allow me to express my gratitude to CECC’s continuous focus on China’s human rights conditions and assistance to activists all along. My special thanks go to Congressman Chris Smith and Senator Marco Rubio.

Obstructed by Police during Nunnery Visit with Taiwanese Friend

Posted on 2016-08-20 by wrchina

Article by WRIC Volunteer: Li Hui

Editor’s note: The Birth Planning Policy has been implemented for 30 years and has caused human tragedies unseen in history. Those hundred million newborn and stillborn innocent souls killed by this national policy cannot be forgotten. Among these souls are those that would have been grateful for being brought to this world, but were wiped out. For example, these adopted girls at the nunnery should have had a happy childhood and a warm family, but this kind of normal life was strangled by the widely evil national policy before even emerging. What a tragedy! Nowadays, the problem of ageing population has surfaced, the gender proportion of the population is unbalanced, and child trafficking is rampant. The government’s policy is the origin of all these disasters, but not only does the government refuse to aid, comfort and solve the difficulties of the victims, they do the opposite and block all news, prohibiting the outer world from learning the truth, and even use suppression and threats to obstruct social assistance.

In July, WRIC helped a young Taiwanese female photographer arrange for a visit to a nunnery that takes in abandoned babies. Unexpectedly, the photographer was repeatedly harassed by the local police and officials from various government departments. She became so frightened that she could only end her trip and escape from mainland China as quickly as possible. We feel very helpless and frustrated about this incident. It was the first time for this girl to visit Anhui, China. She had been dreaming about being close to her mother’s hometown and feeling the vibe of its ancient civilization, but now she has been intimidated by the officials and the police and had to run away. It is a sad sight. In regard to the political situation of Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said they were “one family” on the surface, but in practice, they exert all energy into squashing up the survival space of Taiwan. Taiwan citizens are chased around the world and beaten up by the CCP just because they are fighting for a pitifully small amount of dignity and rights. This girl just walked around freely for a few days in China, would the sky collapse then? Before she boarded the plane, when she was still in Taiwan and had not even set foot on the mainland, the CCP had already collected relevant information. From this, we can see how much “homework” the CCP did, and what resources they tapped on, all to stop a girl from visiting another girl.

About 2 months ago, Taiwanese girl Mian Man was chatting with WRIC Jing Zhang. Jing gave her an introduction on the nunneries in mainland China which adopted abandoned babies. This practice was brought about by the Birth Planning Policy. Some rural families abandoned newborn girls at monasteries to keep the birth quota for a boy. Before this practice, some people gave away their baby girls or even killed them. Eventually, some parents didn’t have the heart to do so since it was their blood and flesh, so they thought of nuns, who were full of compassion. The parents secretly placed the newborn girls in front of the monasteries, hoping that the kind Buddhists could help keep the babies alive. The nuns did adopt the babies, since Buddhist doctrine specifies helping the wounded and dead, so they can’t leave someone who is about to die. Secondly, nuns cannot marry and have children, so they consider about their future and prefer to have disciples and someone to take care of them when they get old. Surprisingly, this act attracted a large amount of abandoned babies, all of which were girls.

After listening to Jing Zhang introduction, Mian Mian had a deep interest in the topic and wanted to go to see it herself, hoping that WRIC could contact the nunnery and assist. On one hand, she was indeed a Chinese, and her mom was from Anhui, so she could search for her ancestors in the mainland and view this old, mysterious land to realize her dreams. On the other hand, as a photographer, it was rare in the contemporary world that nunneries would adopt a large number of abandoned girls, and this humanistic wonder was also original material that she wished to obtain to create her art.

Not long after, Yao Cheng from WRIC sent me a message asking if I could be the guide for this Taiwanese girl to visit a nunnery that adopted girls. To ensure that the visit would be successfully accomplished, he didn’t tell me which nunnery it was, where it was located, and who to contact, only telling me that the visit would be in mid-July.

Around 2013, I was a volunteer for WRIC and participated in projects to assist women and children. It was especially because I took part in advocating for the right to education for Anni Zhang that I was detained, summoned and blocked at the border many times by the police and Public Security Officers from places such as Hefei and Fuyang. I was even sentenced. When Yao Cheng was working on this project in the mainland, I had already learned about the situation of these nunnery girls and wanted to visit these poor children. I was busy dealing with some matters before this, but now I had a chance, so I was more than glad to go.

In the morning on July 17, Yao Cheng told me that the Taiwanese girl would arrive in Shanghai two days after (19th) and would take the high-speed rail to Hefei, so I should pick her up at South Hefei station on the 19^th and take her to our destination: Linjiang Nunnery along the north shore of the Yangtze River in Fuxing Town, Susong County, Anhui Province.

In the early morning of the 19^th, I was already on my way to Hefei. Not long after I arrived at South Heifei station (at around 10am), I received a message from Yao Cheng that Susong County Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Fuxing Town police both called Linjiang Nunnery. At first, they asked if a Taiwan reporter was coming there, then warned them that they could not meet with her. Shi Hongwen, a girl from the nunnery replied that she never heard that any a Taiwan reporter was coming. (At that time, due to a flight delay, the Taiwanese girl hadn’t even crossed the Chinese border. I really admire the level of monitoring of the Public Security Bureau. Although we used chatting software from foreign countries and used a new cell phone number, the resourceful cyber police, penetrating every corner, had immediately monitored the content of our conversation and had preparation plan ahead of time). Due to the flight delay, it was already 8pm when I picked her up. We could only stay in Hefei for the night.

Young Taiwanese photographer Mian Mian (third from the left) and the girls at the nunnery.

Form lift : Mian Mian and Shi, Hongwen. In 2012, WRIC raised money for Hongwen heart bypass operation. Ten years old Shi, Hongxin. Mian Mian and WRIC volunteer Li Hui.

It was too hot the next day so we decided to get to the nunnery by car. At around 12pm on the 20^th, after a long journey of almost five hours, we finally arrived at the remote nunnery in Fuxing Town, Susong County, Anhui Province. Although it was called a nunnery, it was actually a few makeshift houses that were just built. Since the flooding of the Yangtze River, the already torn Linjiang Nunnery was soaked and lay in disarray. The three master and disciples could only live a harsh life in some makeshift houses. The old master was almost 80 years old and had adopted two girls: one just turned 20 and the other was only 10 years old. The elder girl was named Shi, Hongwen and had Congenital Heart Disease. In 2012, WRIC raised money for her heart bypass operation. The younger was named Shi, Hongxin and was studying at the village elementary school. Besides the government subsidy of RMB600 that the 10-year-old receives (which will cease once she turns 18), the three can only live on sparse donations. Now that the nunnery was flooded, life was extremely difficult for them. They lived from hand to mouth, not knowing at dawn what might happen by dusk.

Just a few minutes after the Taiwanese girl and I had arrived, seven to eight government officials came. They were from the Susong County Bureau of Religious Affairs, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Propaganda Department etc. They claimed that they had been sent to take part in flood relief (which was false, it was more to monitor us). Actually, they had already came in the afternoon on July 19^th (since they didn’t get the latest information on the flight delay), and had got nothing. These few middle-aged men had no respect for the serenity of a Buddhist temple and randomly barged into the nun’s bedrooms. They kept monitoring us and tried to talk about nonsense. Even when we were having lunch, they stood at our side and refused to leave. I didn’t shy from telling on them, and said to one official from Bureau of Religion, “Since you are from the Bureau of Religious Affairs, you should know your duty: how many real-life problems have you solved for the nunnery? How much money have you donated? How much funding have you applied for them?” He argued, “They don’t have the proper registration, and are not recognized by the government, so they cannot be helped.”

I said, “The three here are old, weak, sick and disabled. They don’t even have enough to eat and keep warm, how would they be able to register? They have such a difficult life, but not only do you ignore them, you obstruct social support that can rescue them! Friends from across the border have travelled dozens of thousands of miles to donate and assist them today, but you aren’t welcoming them, and even treat them as criminals, guarding them closely. There were so many of you barging into the nunnery! You scared the children so much they aren’t coming out. What impact have you brought to those around you? (At that time they suddenly charged into the nunnery and did scare 10-year-old Little Hongxin, who rarely sees men. So many tough-looking men busted in that the little girl immediately panicked and closed the door to hide from them. She was too afraid to even come out for lunch).

After we finished lunch, the United Front Work official from the Department of the CPC Central Committee got straight to the theme with me, asking for my name, phone number, address etc., then started questioning my Taiwanese friend on why she was here and told her to show her passport and relevant ID. They asked for details regarding the aim of this trip and took photos before leaving. Not long after this group left, 4 Fuxing Town police came, clearing the road with their police car and arriving with weapons and all. One of them was even a policewoman. Just after getting out of the car, they demanded Mian Mian for her ID and took pictures, and had her fill in a form. They told me to give personal information as well. Following that was again a series of investigation and questioning. One of them seemed to be the little leader.

His face tightened and he left with arrogance, saying “Foreign nationals staying the night at a nunnery must report to the precinct upon arrival to our town. If you don’t leave tomorrow, we won’t come to serve you, you must go to the precinct.”

The next day, we planned to walk around the village after getting up. Just as we walked out, a police car followed us like a shadow, staying on guard in secret. They took no notice of the scorching, fiery sun in the midst of the hot summer, and rode dozens of miles to this remote countryside in the early morning to stalk and “protect” us. How dutiful of them! If they had used so much manpower and resources to really serve the people, why would they have to worry that the social situation was unstable? This sovereignty of China sees every person as an enemy wishing to overthrow them. A young Taiwanese girl born in the 80s travelled tens of thousands of miles to mainland China just to understand the lives and conditions of the girls at a nunnery. For a small matter like this, they had to dispatch so many people in such a state of insecurity and panic! They didn’t take into account the heat of the day and for three consecutive days, dispensed so much manpower for surveillance and harassed us. This sovereignty looks strong and unbeatable, but is actually the weakest.

According to sources, due to the Birth Planning Policy, abandoning babies at nunneries have become common. These nunneries are mostly located in poor and remote rural areas, such as in Anhui and Chongqing. The majority of these nunneries are not recognized by the government. WRIC has started this rural girls; assistance project since 2008, but because of the interference of the Chinese government, it has not been able to function normally since 2011. These girls’ health is not guaranteed. Buddhists are vegetarians, so the children can’t even eat eggs and milk, not to mention fish and meat. They don’t have medical insurance, so when they get sick, they can only allow themselves to be treated by folk methods from the masters. They cannot receive normal education from the family and school, and can’t feel the love from a father and mother, so have serious psychological problems. A lot of them have autism. From my short time of meeting with them, I already discovered that 20-year-old Hongwen and 10-year-old Little Hongxin both have this kind of autism, especially Little Hongxin, who never spoke and only nodded or shook her head when I asked anything, with no smile on her face. She never communicates with strangers and doesn’t have any books and toys; she doesn’t have a spiritual world. We put in a lot of effort and gave her some toys. Finally, right before we left, we saw a hint of a smile, and she promised to take a picture with us to keep for memory. They have lived in such an environment since they were a child, so when they grow up, they naturally can’t assimilate into society. Therefore, many girls choose to become nuns.

Mian Mian originally intended to stay in the mainland for a week, so her return ticket was scheduled for 7/26, and she planned to go to other places. However, what happened right before her eyes showed that she should not stay long in the mainland. Thus, after donating RMB1000 to the nunnery, she refused my repeated pleas for her to stay, and suddenly changed her high-speed rail ticket date, disposed of her original flight ticket, and bought a flight ticket to Taipei within the shortest time possible. She experienced hardships and passed through tens of thousands of miles from the U.S. to China, but only stayed for three nights, and fled back to Taipei during the midnight on July 22. Before she left, she called me and in an extremely excited tone, told me that she was so lucky to leave this country; she didn’t want to stay one minute longer in the mainland. Since the internet here is often blocked, she couldn’t login to her email and social network accounts and couldn’t contact her friends. More unbearable was that she herself was treated as a hostile force and was monitored and harassed. She couldn’t feel any sense of security, and said that she would never go the mainland again.

Under the Heavy Sun: the Working Women of Bijie’s Villages

Posted on 2016-08-09 by wrchina

Photos by ERIC Li YuanlongTranslator by Sandra Lam

Even in late September,’s temperature could rise to more than 35 Celsius. Walking under the sun made one feel as if hair on fire. Sweat leaks out of one’s body like out of a leaking pipe.

A city dweller might have dreamed of staying indoors with modern air conditioning, far away from manual labor in the fields. However, villagers, especially those from the poorer families could not avoid the job. Women, as well as men, from grandmothers with sixty or seventy years to young newlyweds, had to till the soil or carry heavy loads through the mountains.

On the 20^th and 21^st of September, I travelled through Haizijie, Heguantun and Zhuchang districts of Bijie. I took many pictures of women doing hard labor in the rural areas. The purpose of these photos is not to elicit instant “respect” of these women, because for them, mere respect is far from enough.

Dusk on the mountainside, this Miao woman in traditional dress leads two horses. A baby sleeps on her back, probably her grandson. She’s hurrying home. Feeding the family and their livestock are both her responsibilities.

This Miao woman is using a tool unique to this region of Guizhou Hill Country to separate the bean crop. After sowing, tending and harvest, to feed her family tofu, she would still have many more steps to go. The soy needs to be ground into powder, boiled into a milk and coagulant added.

She walks in broad and rapid strides. What urgent housework awaits her that she is walking so fast while carrying so much?

In the old days, women were prohibited in building repair because they brought bad luck with them. After “liberation”, they work like men in the building trade, even carrying heavy bricks up the scaffolds.

There are no machines, only handheld tools. Work here has not changed substantially from six or seven decades ago.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Six road maintenance workers with temporary employment, only one man among them.

Perhaps her sons and daughters have all migrated to better jobs, this old woman has become the main workforce for her fields. From dawn to dusk, who knows how many thousand pounds of corn she would have to carry.

I do not know where they were from, where they were going, whether they were from the same family or only neighbors. But I do know that this was their daily work. City residents could think of retirement. Villagers who could walk would always have to work.

This style of large basket is usually associated with men. To get by, she has no choice but to carry them also. Perhaps there is some truth in the blustery propaganda that “women could carry half the sky”.

A grandmother of over seventy could not go into the fields anymore. She nonetheless works by stringing hot pepper. The bright red strands look more like works of art from an experienced hand.

When I was sent here during the Cultural Revolution, she was still a baby on her mother’s back. Now she’s a mother, and carries packages weighing over 120 pounds every day with heavy steps. Her parents are still poor. She could but shoulder the heavy burden of a family’s livelihood.

This elderly woman is alone. Her husband is long gone. None of her three children care about her.

Living in an old wooden house, “I’ll only eat as much as I can carry.

When I die, just bury me in my home.” She has no hope or illusions in anybody.
Tap water is the best reward during this brief break during back-breaking work in the brick factory.

Her hair looked as disheveled as the straw she is carrying. But the most difficult face. Those were a pair of eyes that have given up all hope in life.

Sweat, heat, sun. This Miao woman and her husband carry tons bricks every day. Her parents were carrying bricks to the truck, the baby sleeps under the bridge, oblivious to the flies on her face and behind. She is staying quiet amidst her parents’ back breaking work.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The men do the “technical” work of shaping the bricks. Women have to carry the raw material and formed bricks, by far the heavier half of manual labor.

Her canvass shoes are soaked. The field was muddy. To wealthy urbanites, “rest” means a cold drink and air conditioning. She takes a rest by leaning on her rake for several moments.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA