"It's Hard. I Want to Go Home"... Outrage in China Over 'Cement Bag Slave' Forced to Work Unpaid for 20 Years

Chinese Activist Exposes Labor Exploitation at Cement Store
Elderly Man Forced to Carry Cement Bags Unpaid for 20 Years
Investigation Launched into Forced Labor Allegations
Activist Faces Threats to Personal Safety

A scandal has erupted in China after it came to light that a disabled elderly man in his 60s had been forced to work for nearly 20 years without receiving any wages.

An elderly man working at a cement sales shop, revealed by a Chinese human trafficking activist. He is reported to have suffered from heavy labor for 20 years without receiving a single wage. Photo from Shangguan Jingyi's Weibo.

According to local media, including China News Weekly and Yonhap News Agency on June 12, a video was recently posted on the Chinese social networking service Weibo showing a disabled elderly man subjected to long-term unpaid labor at a cement sales shop in Qingyuan District, Baoding City, Hebei Province. The video was filmed on June 7 by renowned Chinese human trafficking activist Shangguan Jingyi, who visited the site in person. It quickly spread online, triggering widespread outrage.

In the video, the elderly man, with graying hair and a thick beard, is seen carrying bags of cement. According to reports, he would wake up around 5 a.m. every day and, without any protective equipment such as a mask, would load and unload cement bags with his bare hands in a dust-filled warehouse, yet did not receive a single cent. Standing in front of the camera, the man simply said, "It's hard. I want to go home."

However, the owner of the shop dismissed the man's situation as insignificant. The owner reportedly said, "This person has no identification and was given to me by a friend," and added, "He's been here for over 20 years. When he dies, we'll just bury him and that's it."

As the video spread and public outrage grew, authorities formed a joint investigation team comprised of public security, civil affairs, human resources and social security, and the Disabled Persons' Federation to investigate the facts of the case. The investigation revealed that around 20 years ago, the man had drifted into Liuzhuang Village, Zhangcun Town, Qingyuan District, and had been living and working with the shop operator, a 57-year-old surnamed An. Authorities temporarily placed the man under the protection of a municipal shelter, and a health checkup found no significant issues. They later matched his DNA information and, on June 9, located his family.

The police have detained Mr. An on charges of forced labor and are investigating the details of the case. Professor Liu Jialiang of East China Normal University told China News Weekly that, based on the facts revealed so far, the case could constitute forced labor or illegal detention.

Shangguan Jingyi, who exposed the case, reportedly received death threats after releasing the video. He claimed that a man tried to run him over with a truck near the scene of the shop. That man was detained for seven days on charges of threatening personal safety, and there was reportedly another individual who issued threats via online messages. Shangguan Jingyi told the media, "I am currently in a very dangerous situation."

Shangguan Jingyi has been active as a civilian human trafficking investigator since 2007, beginning his work after rescuing children forced into begging and is known to have saved more than 100 children. Recently, he has shifted his focus to issues such as infant trafficking, falsification of birth certificates, and illegal surrogacy, and has reportedly filed complaints against 43 hospitals and institutions across China over the year since November 2023.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.