My name is Ian Urbina and I’m the director of The Outlaw Ocean Project, a journalism non-profit based in Washington D.C. that publishes stories about human rights and environmental issues connected with the sea.
I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between abuses in that industry and Shandong Haidu Ocean Food Co. Ltd.’s supply chain.
This link concerns a Chinese squid jigger owned by Rongcheng Wangdao Ocean Aquatic Products. In a seven-month period between August 2020 and March 2021, one cre…
I wrote to Shandong Haidu Ocean Food Co. Ltd. earlier this year regarding our research into the Chinese squid fishing industry, and I am contacting you again with regard to findings we’ve made concerning forced labor.
Shandong Haidu has received multiple groups of workers from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the government’s labor transfer program. The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced…
We do not accept your questions. Our company's processing workers are all formal employees with many years of experience and corresponding skills, conforming to China's labor laws. There is no use of illegal workers from Xinjiang or other countries, and we recently passed human rights audits from two companies, UL and CBI. Our company is actively making our processing and production situation public to clients worldwide and peer companies. We are also equipped with corridors specially for visiting, and welcome friends to visit, learn, and communicate at any time.
Dear Ian Urbina:
Please allow me to introduce myself, Guogang Li, a lawyer from Tahota (Beijing) Law Firm (please see Attachment 1 for my biography), entrusted by Haibo Seafood Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Haibo”, please see Attachment 2 for the Power of Attorney) and Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Haidu”, please see Attachment 3 for the Power of Attorney). I would like to send the following comments below to you regarding the report in the “Outlaw Ocean Project” related to the Uyghur laborers in the seafood processing factories for your consideration.
I. Among the laborers…
Dear Mr. Guogang Li,
Thank you for your letter from November 6, 2023. This letter comes as the latest in a series of exchanges in which representatives at Rongcheng Haibo Seafood Co., Ltd. and/or Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd have claimed that no Xinjiang workers have been at the plants. You can review that back-and-forth for Haibo and [Haidu](https://www.theoutlawocean.com/investigations/china-the-superpower-of-seafood/discussion/#shandong-haidu-ocean-product-co-…