Page 244 - Communist Chinas Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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HOW PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE

MADE TO WORK
In the same way that the Chinese administration compels the peo-
ple of East Turkestan to work while taking the profits of that labor, it

also exploits its own people in order to preserve the system. On the one
hand, those guilty and accused of thought crimes are forced to work in
the labor camps, and, on the other, the public are made to work for the
state and the profits taken away. Even children of primary school age
are also used in order to get the very last drop of blood out of the peo-
ple. Since people are only of value to the communist system as long as
they keep producing, and the age, health and working conditions of
those who carry out that production are often irrelevant. It is therefore
entirely natural according to the communist mindset that children
should be exploited as well. The use of children provides cheap labor,
and constitutes a serious advantage for the Chinese economy.
Livestock is raised, farming and tailoring carried out, and even
fireworks are produced in Chinese schools. There are sometimes even
mass deaths among the children who perform such labor, because chil-
dren are generally used to perform dangerous jobs such as filling and
preparing fireworks. Fifty children were killed in one explosion in the
village of Fangling in the district of Jiangxi in eastern China, and an-
other child seriously injured. 82 As well as studying and doing their

homework at that school, its 200 students are also responsible for pro-
ducing fireworks. The 13-year-old student Gao Yun, told the Reuters
news agency about the work they did:
We started making fireworks in the school four years ago, once or twice a
week. Pupils in higher grades made the barrels and those in low grades
attach the fuses. If we produce more, our teachers give us rewards like
pencils or notebooks. But if we don't meet our targets we are not allowed
to go home. 83

Communist China’s Policy
of Oppression in East Turkestan