Missing persons: Men investigating Ivanka’s brands missing, another arrested

TWO men investigating a company that produces Ivanka Trump-branded shoes have gone missing while another has been arrested.

In this May 17, 2017, photo, Ivanka Trump hosts a meeting on human trafficking with congressional leaders in the White House in Washington. Picture: AP /Evan Vucci.

A MAN investigating working conditions at a Chinese company that produces Ivanka Trump-branded shoes has been arrested and two others are missing.

Hua Haifeng was accused of illegal surveillance, according to his wife, Deng Guilian, who said the police called her Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Deng said the caller told her she didn’t need to know the details, only that she would not be able to see, speak with or receive money from her husband.

China Labor Watch executive director Li Qiang said he lost contact with Hua Haifeng and the other two men, Li Zhao and Su Heng, over the weekend.

By Tuesday, after dozens of unanswered calls, he had concluded: “They must be held either by the factory or the police to be unreachable.”

China Labor Watch, a New York-based non-profit, was planning to publish a report next month alleging low pay, excessive overtime and the possible misuse of student interns.

It is unclear whether the undercover investigative methods used by the advocacy group are legal in China.

Li Zhao is one of three men involved in investigating working conditions at a Chinese factory that produces Ivanka Trump shoes who have been arrested or gone missing. Picture: Deng Guilian via AP.

Hua Haifeng has been arrested. Picture: Deng Guilian via AP.

For 17 years, China Labor Watch has investigated working conditions at suppliers to some of the world’s best-known companies, but Mr Li said his work has never before attracted this level of scrutiny from China’s state security apparatus.

“Our plan was to investigate the factory to improve the labour situation,” Mr Li said.

“But now it has become more political.”

Walt Disney Co stopped working with a toy maker in Shenzhen last year after the group exposed labour violations.

China Labor Watch has also published reports on child labour at Samsung suppliers and spent years investigating Apple’s China factories. In the past, the worst thing Mr Li feared was having investigators kicked out of a factory or facing a short police detention.

The arrest and disappearances come amid a crackdown on perceived threats to the stability of China’s ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch.

Faced with rising labour unrest and a slowing economy, Beijing has also taken a stern approach to activism in southern China’s manufacturing belt and to human rights advocates generally, sparking a wave of critical reports about disappearances, public confessions, forced repatriation and torture in custody.

Another difference is the target of China Labor Watch’s investigation — a brand owned by the daughter of the US president.

White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks referred questions to Ivanka Trump’s brand. The Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment.

Mr Li said China Labor Watch asked police about the three missing investigators on Monday but received no reply.

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