“Well-researched and reported book that reads like a detective story.”
——Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, Center on US-China Relations
“Timely and urgent...Pang is a dogged investigator.”
“Amelia Pang has written a powerful new book that traces what we buy back to those who made it, often under truly torturous conditions.”
“Moving and powerful.”
“A cinematic approach to a vital topic.”
Shortlisted for the 2019 J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Award
Made in China is available on: Bookshop, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon
E-books available on: Google Play, Apple, Kobo
About Made in China
In 2012, an Oregon mother named Julie Keith opened up a package of Halloween decorations. The cheap foam headstones had been $5 at Kmart, too good a deal to pass up. But when she opened the box, something fell out that she wasn’t expecting: an SOS letter, handwritten in broken English by the prisoner who’d made and packaged the items.
Beyond Beijing’s brightly-lit Chanel and Gucci storefronts...
There is a hidden system contributing to China’s colossal economy: modern-day gulags. In telling the human stories behind why some of these people landed in present-day labor camps, Made in China reveals how it is the unrealized potential of political and religious dissidents that make it possible for us to pay low prices. When we casually purchase Made in China products, we are not only endorsing slave labor. As Western consumers, our spending habits may be hindering social progress in China.
This book, examining the SOS note that Julie Keith found in a Kmart product, will be published by Algonquin Books.
REVIEW QUOTES
“A moving and powerful look at the brutal slave labor camps in China that mass produce our consumer products. Amelia Pang, who puts a human face on the Chinese laborers who work in bondage, makes clear our complicity in this inhuman system. She forces us, like the abolitionists who battled slavery in the 19th century, to place the sanctity of human life before the maximization of profit. It is hard not to finish this book and not be outraged, not only at the Chinese government but the American corporations that knowingly collaborate with and profit from this modern slave trade.”
“The problem of illegal prison labor being used in the People’s Republic of China to manufacture goods for global markets is a longstanding one that keeps resurfacing in new guises. Now with this well-researched and reported book that reads like a detective story, investigative journalist Amelia Pang has opened a new porthole on this pernicious practice. ”
“A cinematic approach to a vital topic, which should be as close to our hearts as cheap goods are to our wallets. Amelia Pang provides close-ups of the individual stories behind labor camps, and wide-angle views of their context and history.”
“Engrossing and deeply reported, this impressive exposé will make readers think twice about their next purchase.”
“Readers will be drawn into this thoroughly researched narrative and will be awakened by the author’s pleas for consumers to be more vigilant about the origin of their goods.”
“A powerful argument for heightened awareness of the high price of Chinese-made products.”
“Sun’s story shows the inhuman nature of the authoritarian Chinese government. The narrative consists of many people’s untold stories. After reading this book, anyone with a conscience will realize it is time to take action for those who are persecuted by the Chinese dictatorship.”
“With clarity and sensitivity, she exposes the human cost of the global demand for cut-rate products, and provides clear calls to action for individuals, corporations and governments to stem these abuses. Any reader with half a heart will be hard-pressed not to re-examine their own buying habits after reading this incredible, moving account.”