A company that has been accused of serious labor abuses and was once used by Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand is being featured in a propaganda film for the Chinese government, The Associated Press reports.
Chinese manufacturer Huajian Group, which operates factories in China and Ethiopia, is being celebrated in a blockbuster film called “Amazing China” that showcases Chinese influence spreading around the world.
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In the film, Huajian Group is reportedly portrayed as a beneficial force lifting Ethiopians out of poverty. In reality, workers at Ethiopian factories told the AP that they work in proximity to dangerous chemicals without safety gear and are fired for complaining about work conditions.
“If someone complains, he will be accused of disturbing the workplace and will be fired right away,” Ebissa Gari, a 22-year-old worker, told the AP. Gari estimates that he earns 960 Birr ($35) a month working in the factory. “That’s why we keep quiet and work no matter how much we are subdued.”
In a statement to The Hill, the Trump brand said “it has not manufactured products at the factory in question in over a year,” and was only ever a small fraction of the factory’s output.
“These stories fail to name the many other conglomerate brands who previously or currently manufacture apparel and accessories with this factory, proving to be another example of unfairly using the brand’s name to generate clickbait,” the statement read.
Trump’s fashion brand ended its relationship with Huajian Group last year, and a spokesperson told the AP that the brand “has always and continues to take supply chain integrity very seriously.”
The company once manufactured shoes for Trump’s fashion line and was involved in controversy last year when human rights monitors were arrested while investigating the company.
Democrats slammed Trump, who is also a White House adviser, over her company’s practices at the time, calling on the Trump administration to confront Chinese human rights abuses and for the Trump brand to cease its relationship with Huajian Group.
“We deeply hope that these detained or missing human rights workers are safe and can be reunited with their families as soon as possible,” Democratic National Committee deputy communications director Adrienne Watson said in a statement last year. “For years, Ivanka Trump has ignored public reports of awful labor conditions at a factory that makes her shoes. Now, she must decide whether she can ignore the Chinese government’s apparent attempt to silence an investigation into those worker abuses.”
Updated at 5:32 p.m.