WEBSITE FUNDED BY THE






G20 FROM BELOW


New Scandal of Slavery in Chinese Brick Kilns Exposed Xiaer China Lab

Xiaer ( China Labor Forum) 21 November 2025

Since September, at least 50 illegal brick factories in Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Shanxi, and other places have been exposed for luring, enslaving, and abusing intellectually disabled people. Reports indicate that disabled individuals are lured or purchased by foremen to these brick factories, where they are forced to perform strenuous labor without any pay. The brick factories' justification is that "recruiting is difficult" and "mentally disabled workers are easier to 'manage'." More than a decade ago, the enslavement of workers in illegal brick kilns was already a hot topic in the news.

One after another
"I was stunned when I saw the hand of one of the people I recently rescued—his hand was completely deformed, his fingers covered in calluses, and it looked even worse when turned inside out; there was no flesh left, just a little skin." This is what Shangguan Zhengyi, who participated in the exposure and rescue work, witnessed.

Disabled laborers not only have to work in direct exposure to harmful dust environments, but also endure spoiled food, unimaginably long working hours, and verbal and physical abuse from factory managers. Because of their intellectual disabilities, they have no awareness of protecting themselves and can only endure this inhuman torture. Once someone falls ill or loses their ability to work due to abuse, they are abandoned by the roadside.

In China, a gray industry chain exists that specifically targets, traffics, and enslaves disabled people, but it persists due to the corrupt government's indifference and even cover-ups.

During the rescue operation in Qinzhou, Guangxi, after Shangguan Zhengyi called 110 (the police emergency number), the factory had already begun taking measures to hide disabled workers before the police arrived. Did the factory owner possess some kind of supernatural ability to sense danger in advance? Or was someone secretly tipping them off? Netizens have questioned the government's ineffective oversight: "These illegal brick factories from over a decade ago haven't been resolved yet?" "Are all these administrative departments just sitting around doing nothing?" "Who would believe the boss isn't protected?"

Furthermore, Shangguan recently exposed that dozens of unidentified disabled individuals in Shennongjia, Hubei Province, have been illegally controlled by villagers for years, forced into unpaid labor, subjected to abuse, and some have even died in captivity. Several disabled individuals died after being "rescued," with the cause of death unknown. The Hongping Town Welfare Home confirmed that some of those placed there died shortly after entering the facility, their identities and causes of death remaining a mystery. Shangguan Zhengyi called for an official investigation in a statement, but the government has not yet released the results. As early as 2022, tourists filmed what appeared to be trafficked disabled individuals in the area, but the videos were quickly censored and deleted.

Following the restoration of capitalism, China did not become a "capitalist democracy," but rather an authoritarian capitalist state ruled by the so-called CCP. In such a China, workers are treated as expendable commodities, lacking even the limited democratic rights—organization and strikes—found in older capitalist countries. Capital's pursuit of profit demands extreme cost-cutting, abandoning morality and circumventing the law, even resorting to the abduction and enslavement of disabled workers, resulting in this shocking form of modern slavery. Slavery in the 21st century is not unique to China, but typically exists only in extremely impoverished or war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Myanmar. This is an example of the extreme and barbaric exploitation by capitalism and imperialism (where a few very wealthy countries and governments dominate the poor majority).

The CCP is a den of snakes and rats.
The Chinese Communist Party government has no intention of protecting the rights of the disabled. It has formed a nepotistic relationship with certain capitalists, becoming part of this bloody chain of interests. Its need to restrict and suppress freedom of speech aims to prevent the vast Chinese working class from organizing to challenge its reactionary authoritarianism, further demonstrating its desire to conceal its own corruption and incompetence.

How can we truly end this inhumane, infuriating abuse and enslavement? Our answer as revolutionary Marxists is that the working class must strive to create independent trade unions and workers' organizations, organizing and preparing themselves to become an unstoppable force to end the reactionary capitalist rule of the CCP and realize a socialist democratic planned economy with public ownership of the means of production. The key to this truly socialist revolution lies in the massive expansion of free, fully publicly owned and managed medical and social services, providing care and support for the disabled so they can lead happy and fulfilling lives.
https://chinaworker.info/zh-hans/2025/11/21/48318/?

Back






© Copyright G20 from below