Editing Laogai (section)

=== "Reform through labor" ===
Forced labor defines Laogai prison camps, according to [[Harry Wu]], who has characterized the system as:

<blockquote>Prisoners are roused from bed at 5:30&nbsp;a.m., and at 6:00 a.m. the ''zhiban'' from the kitchen wheels in a cart with tubs of corn gruel and cornbread ... at 7:00 a.m. the company public security cadre (captain) comes in, gathers all the prisoners together, and authorizes any sick prisoners to remain in the barracks. Once at the worksite, the captain delegates production responsibilities ...
At lunchtime the ''zhiban'' arrives pulling a handcart with a large tub of vegetable soup, two hunks of cornbread for each prisoner, and a large tube of drinking water ... after about 30 minutes, work is resumed until the company chief announces quitting time in the evening. Generally the prisoners return to the barracks at about 6:30&nbsp;p.m.
Upon return it is once again a dinner of cornbread, corn gruel, and vegetable soup.
At 7:30 p.m., the 2-hour study period begins...
At 9:30 p.m., no matter what the weather, all prisoners gather together outside the barracks for roll call and a speech from the captain. At around 10:00 p.m., everyone goes to bed.
During the night no lights are allowed and no one is allowed to move about. One must remain in one's assigned sleeping place and wait until 5:30 a.m. the next morning before getting up, when the whole cycle begins again.<ref name=wu /></blockquote>

Quota filling was a big part of the inmates' lives in Laogai camps. Undershooting or overshooting the target productivity governs their quality of life. Not making the number may result in solitary confinement or loss of food privileges. Generally, food rations are cut by 10–20% if a worker fails to meet the standard. Some prisoners excel and are able to do more than what is required of them. They sometimes receive extra or better quality food. It has been argued that this extra food is not worth the extra calories burned to be more productive, so many prisoners choose to do the minimum with minimum effort, thereby saving as much energy as possible.<ref name=williams />

Working conditions in Laogai camps are substandard:{{Citation needed|reason=An updated claim is also required, since China changes quickly in a short span of time|date=November 2016}}

<blockquote>Investigators from the Laogai Research Foundation have confirmed sites where prisoners mine asbestos and other toxic chemicals with no protective gear, work with batteries and battery acid with no protection for their hands, tan hides while standing naked in vats filled 3-feet deep with chemicals used for the softening of animal skins, and work in improperly run mining facilities where explosions and other accidents are a common occurrence.<ref name=chapman /></blockquote>

Career preparation has historically been used to justify forced labor prison systems around the world. In China, although this argument was used, career preparation was minimal until recently. Following release, the skills acquired within the Laogai prison (i.e. ditch-digging or manure-spreading) do not often lead to desirable employment. Inmates who entered the Laogai system with marketable skills were often assigned jobs utilizing these skills within the prison complex. Doctors, for example, were doctors within the Laogai camp often receiving preferential treatment, larger amounts of food, similar to the cadre, and a bed. "Inmates rarely leave with any new skills unless the training fits the camp's enterprising needs."<ref name=williams /> More recently however, programs have been introduced to train prisoners in useful trades.<ref name=williams />

While there are many types of Laogai complexes, most enterprises are farms, mines, or factories. There are, according to the Chinese government, "approximately 200 different kinds of Laogai products that are exported to international markets".<ref name=chapman/> "A quarter of China's tea is produced in Laogai camps; 60 percent of China's rubber-vulcanizing chemicals are produced in a single Laogai camp in Shengyang ... one of the largest steel-pipe factories in the country is a Laogai camp ... "<ref name=chapman/> One camp alone, Ziangride, harvests more than 22,000 metric tons of grain every year.<ref name=Johnson>By Ian Johnson. "China's Prison Camps Turn to Commerce --- Forced Labor Helps Settle Unexploited Regions. " ''Wall Street Journal,'' Aug. 14, 1998, Eastern edition: A13. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest.</ref> Dulan County prisoners have planted over 400,000 trees.<ref name=Johnson/>

The conditions in these camps are considered extremely harsh by most of the world's cultures. However, the Chinese government considers Laogai to be effective in controlling prisoners and furthering China's economy. According to Mao Zedong, "The Laogai facilities are one of the violent component parts of the state machine. Laogai facilities of all levels are established as tools representing the interests of the proletariat and the people's masses and exercising dictatorship over a minority of hostile elements originating from exploiter classes."<ref name=gulag>Wu, Harry, "The Other Gulag", ''National Review,''  4/5/1999, Vol. 51, Issue 6</ref>