Famous Chinese "Tian Tang" Brand Umbrellas Are Made in Hangzhou Prison

(http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/4/15400.html)

Practitioners are forced to do manual labour while being illegally detained in Hangzhou City Detention Centre. According to Chinese law, while suspects may be detained during an investigation period, a distinction is made between "suspects" and "criminals." Criminals may be forced to work but the law does not allow suspects to be sentenced to "forced labour re-education." However, practitioners have been forced to do manual labour while illegally detained in the detention centre. The work is heavy and the hours are long.

The detainees are forced to make the "Tian Tang" brand umbrellas. The "Tian Tang" umbrella is a popular umbrella in China because, being made by prisoners, it has strict quality control. In the detention centres where the practitioners are forced to make umbrellas, if one pin is missed, the worker is punished. Part of the punishment is to make an extra 70 umbrellas, yet one can produce a maximum of 60 umbrellas per day. In the view of the vicious policemen, human labour is the cheapest resource. To them, any raw material, such as a thread or a needle, is more precious than a human being. The illegally detained practitioners said that it was like hell on earth.
Even practitioners who had not distributed Dafa truth-clarifying materials were arrested as "suspects." Half a month later, the police found that someone else was distributing the materials but they still didn't release those illegally detained until 30 days had passed. Before releasing them, the Political Security Section chief shamelessly said, "You must confess to something, otherwise we can't explain why we detained you so long." After their release the police withheld the practitioners' money, identification cards, communication equipment and private letters. They wanted the practitioners to write "repentance letters" [to renounce Dafa] as a condition for the return of personal property.

Another Dafa practitioner is self-employed and has a small business, but the authorities withheld his business licence. He couldn't work. Some practitioners found jobs but the police went to their companies and threatened their employers, leading to the practitioners' dismissal. Some practitioners were highly thought of in their work units; nevertheless authorities from the police department forced the work units to dismiss them.

Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/1/8/17543.html