CHINA: Government Claims Labor Reporters At Ivanka’s Shoe Factory Were Stealing “Commercial Secrets”

The Washington Post reports:

Two days after the State Department called for the release of three activists detained while investigating working conditions at factories that make shoes for Ivanka Trump, Chinese authorities appear not to be backing off the case.

Reports published Wednesday morning by the Communist Party-controlled press claimed the three men, Su Heng, Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng, are being investigated for selling commercial secrets to unnamed foreign organizations.

A detailed report in the Paper, a website controlled by the Shanghai city government, claimed the men took jobs at factories and then used “hidden camera watches” and other devices to gather information and send it abroad.

The account included a picture of evidence reportedly seized by police: two watches, some thumb drives, a battery and a cellphone. It also said the men had confessed. The men are in detention and have yet to be formally charged.

The men were preparing a report for the New York-based China Labor Watch, which advocates against China’s notorious sweatshop practices.