New Ghosts, Old Ghosts by Seymour James D. Anderson Richard

Author:Seymour, James D.,Anderson, Richard.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317463931
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Special Populations

In many respects the population of the Qinghai laogai reflects the nature of the corresponding populations in Gansu and the remainder of China. Two groups, however, deserve special discussion.

Non-Han Prisoners. The share of political prisoners in Qinghai as part of the province’s total is probably not much larger than elsewhere in China. But the two phenomena of political and minority prisoners are closely connected in Qinghai, as many of the political prisoners known to us are non-Hans.271

As is generally true for the country, political prisoners, even though a small minority of all prisoners, receive most of the international attention. This is deservedly the case, because political imprisonment both has a far-reaching effect on the political process and is a transcendent moral issue. Still, the focus of international attention can be erratic and distorting. Thus, although imprisoned Tibetans are the subject of much concern abroad, this does not confirm that Tibetans are the only ones suppressed in a place like Qinghai; it reflects the fact that Tibetans have a support group abroad who document such cases. The Hui (Muslim Chinese), on the other hand, have not generally had any such international support, and so their plight has been little known, at least in the West.A

While prisoners from most minority groups in Qinghai are sent to the same prisons to which any other local offender would be, there is a special policy concerning Tibetan prisoners. Whether criminals or political offenders, they are now usually concentrated in the Fifth Laogai Detachment, near Xining.B This detachment operates the Qinghai Hydropower Equipment Factory.272 In 1991 the Fifth had a total of 234 Tibetan prisoners273 out of a total of more than 900 people (prisoners, workers, prison cadres and regular staff). This prison is heavily guarded, and escaping would be even more difficult than would be the case in a laogai farm in the countryside.

Perhaps surprisingly, this company has been among the most successful laogai enterprises in Qinghai. Its most striking feature in recent years has been the frequent shifts in the nature of the goods produced there. In the new market economy, agility of management and ability to anticipate and respond to the demands of the marketplace are the secret to the success of any enterprise, including those using prison labor. The Hydropower Equipment Factory has shown an uncanny ability to make quick changes in its product line when another item promises better profits. The name suggests that the place is supposed to produce generators and switchboards, and this is indeed still part of the product mix, albeit now a modest portion. Such equipment is designed for small, local power stations, which used to be in high demand during the 1960s and 1970s. Now Qinghai goes in more for building huge dams, so villages and townships are not building power stations in such large numbers as before. But this situation does not hold back the Fifth’s enterprising managers. For example, in 1996, a new workshop for electric cookers went into production, aimed at the local market.

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