Changes

Since the Tiannanmen massacre the party is obsessed with stability, deploying a vast internal security apparatus to head off protests or, once they erupt, to prevent them from spreading. The government is constantly talking about 'stability maintenance' which is coded language for ensuring the party's rule.  The domestic security apparatus includes an 800,000-strong police force under the Ministry of Public Security and a 1.5 million-strong paramilitary force, the People’s Armed Police, which reports to both the Party’s Central Military Commission and, through the Ministry of Public Security, to the State Council.  Other agencies involved in internal security include the Party’s Propaganda Department, which plays an important role in censoring the media to prevent discussion of subjects that might feed movements for change; the Ministry of State Security, which focuses on internal security threats as well as conducting intelligence-gathering abroad; and the Ministry of Justice, which operates China’s [[gulag]]s and forced labor system.  Many of China's gulags operate factories to produce [[consumer goods]] for [[export]] to the [[United States]] and the rest of the world.

Since the Tiannanmen massacre the party is obsessed with stability, deploying a vast internal security apparatus to head off protests or, once they erupt, to prevent them from spreading. The government is constantly talking about 'stability maintenance' which is coded language for ensuring the party's rule.  The domestic security apparatus includes an 800,000-strong police force under the Ministry of Public Security and a 1.5 million-strong paramilitary force, the People’s Armed Police, which reports to both the Party’s Central Military Commission and, through the Ministry of Public Security, to the State Council.  Other agencies involved in internal security include the Party’s Propaganda Department, which plays an important role in censoring the media to prevent discussion of subjects that might feed movements for change; the Ministry of State Security, which focuses on internal security threats as well as conducting intelligence-gathering abroad; and the Ministry of Justice, which operates China’s [[gulag]]s and forced labor system.  Many of China's gulags operate factories to produce [[consumer goods]] for [[export]] to the [[United States]] and the rest of the world.

===Forced labor===

===The laogai or gulag system===

[[File:Forced Labor Detention Facilities in China.PNG|thumb|right|300px|]]

[[File:Forced Labor Detention Facilities in China.PNG|thumb|right|300px|]]

China’s network of penal forced labor facilities, established in the early years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government to hold both criminals and political dissidents, remains in operation today.<ref>It is also known as the “laogai” system.  It's [[Russia]]n equivalent is '' Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei'' or ''gulag''.</ref>  U.S. law prohibits the importation of goods produced “wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal sanctions.”<ref>Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S. Code 19 § 1307.</ref>  Artificial flowers, Christmas lights, shoes, garments, umbrellas as well as coal, cotton, electronics, fireworks, footwear, nails, and toys have been identified as produced in Chinese prison factories for export.  There have been several instances of letters and notes from prisoners describing their confinement, working conditions and mistreatment discovered in products purchased by consumers outside China; at [[Christmas]] in 2019 a six year old girl in [[London]], in a box of newly purchased Christmas cards, found one that had a message in English saying,

China’s network of penal forced labor facilities, established in the early years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government to hold both criminals and political dissidents, remains in operation today.<ref>It is also known as the “laogai” system.  It's [[Russia]]n equivalent is '' Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei'' or ''gulag''.</ref>  U.S. law prohibits the importation of goods produced “wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal sanctions.”<ref>Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S. Code 19 § 1307.</ref>  Artificial flowers, Christmas lights, shoes, garments, umbrellas as well as coal, cotton, electronics, fireworks, footwear, nails, and toys have been identified as produced in Chinese prison factories for export.  There have been several instances of letters and notes from prisoners describing their confinement, working conditions and mistreatment discovered in products purchased by consumers outside China; at [[Christmas]] in 2019 a six year old girl in [[London]], in a box of newly purchased Christmas cards, found one that had a message in English saying,