Two days after the State Department called for the release of three activists detained while investigating working conditions at factories that make shoes for Ivanka Trump, Chinese authorities appear not to be backing off the case.
Reports published Wednesday morning by the Communist Party-controlled press claimed the three men, Su Heng, Li Zhao and Hua Haifeng, are being investigated for selling commercial secrets to unnamed foreign organizations.
[Activists investigating Ivanka Trump brands in China arrested, missing]
A detailed report in the Paper, a website controlled by the Shanghai city government, claimed the men took jobs at factories and then used “hidden camera watches” and other devices to gather information and send it abroad.
The account included a picture of evidence reportedly seized by police: two watches, some thumb drives, a battery and a cellphone. It also said the men had confessed. The men are in detention and have yet to be formally charged.
The use of the party-controlled press to build a public case against activists will renew concern about how China treats human rights campaigners and uses its courts. The back and forth between Beijing and Washington could also complicate U.S.-China ties under President Trump.
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