This photo taken on June 30, 2016 in Myanmar shows Mar Tuu holding a photograph of her sister Kyi Pyar Soe who was trafficked to China. Enticed by the promise of work, hundreds of poor young Myanmar women are instead being duped into marriage in China which has been named as one of the worst offenders in human trafficking. (Photo by AFP)
The Chinese government has rebuked the United States for listing it as one of the world's worst human trafficking offenders along with other Tier-3 countries like North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria.
Lu Kang, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said China opposed the findings from the Trafficking in Persons Report released June 27.
Lu said China is resolute in combating human trafficking.
"The progress that we have made is also obvious. We are firmly opposed to the irresponsible remarks made by the U.S. based on its domestic law about others' efforts against human trafficking," said Lu in a press conference on the same day of the report's release.
"The Chinese side always believes that no country can stay aloof from the fight against human trafficking as it is a crime plaguing the whole world," he said.
"The Chinese side will step up cooperation with other countries to crack down on human trafficking based on mutual respect."
The report is the first public rebuke of China's human rights record by the U.S. since Donald Trump assumed the presidency in January.
"China was downgraded to Tier 3 status in this year's report in part because it has not taken serious steps to end its own complicity in trafficking, including forced laborers from North Korea that are located in China," said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as he presented the report.
Tillerson said there are 50,000-80,000 North Korean citizens working overseas as forced laborers, principally in Russia and China. "Many of them work 20 hours a day," Tillerson said.
Among the report's findings about China were that — according to unverified media reports and NGOs — there was ongoing government complicity in the use of forced labor.
There were also reports that "local officials in Xinjiang coerced Uyghur men and women to participate in forced labor in and outside the province, despite the local government issuing a notice in early 2017 that the practice had been completely abolished," said the report.
China was listed in Tier 3 in 2013 but was then upgraded to Tier 2 but was on the watch list from 2015 until now. A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to U.S. and international aid.
Ivanka Trump walks to the lectern as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson steps aside during an event about the 2017 Human Trafficking Report at the U.S. State Department June 27 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
Situation on the ground
Domestic and cross-border human trafficking in China is partly driven by gender imbalance caused by the one-child policy. The state policy introduced in 1979 was only loosened into a two-child policy in 2015.
"Gender discrimination is common in Chinese patriarchal society, which favors boy to girl, but the imbalance that it caused becomes a social crisis for men looking to marry," a Catholic commentator with the penname "Hui Taiyang" told ucanews.com.
"This is especially the case for those with disabilities and who are less economically sufficient, who then rely on human traffickers to find a wife," said Hui Taiyang.
Some of the women and even young girls have been trafficked from northern Myanmar. The broker takes 30,000 yuan (US$4,400) or more for each case, said a Protestant source who asked not to be named.
"Some church members in border areas with little education and knowledge on law are also involved in this business," the source told ucanews.com.
"In one case that I know a Protestant trafficker was arrested and sentenced for 15 years," said the source.
Hui Taiyang said that domestic human trafficking is also due to human vices.
"Some disabled people or young children were sold to or lured by human traffickers to do hard labor or turned into beggars to earn money for them from charitable people," said Hui Taiyang.
"The traffickers also lured some young people into undertaking dangerous jobs and intentionally make some serious accidents fatal to avoid paying the worker compensation," he said.