***Registration Required*** Every year, about 50,000 workers, most of them Chinese, arrive in Japan to work as “interns” through a shadowy Japanese government program. Many are considered bonded labor, having paid a large sum, or put up their family home as a guarantee, for the chance to work in Japan. In the factories and farms where these interns work, labor abuse is endemic. Critics say that these workers have become a source of exploited labor in a country with a deepening labor shortage and where discussion of immigration is taboo. Alexandra Harney, who investigated this issue for nearly a year for Reuters, will speak for us on the causes and implications of this program.

Chinese Workers in Japan: Interns or Cheap Labor?

 Alexandra Harney, Special Correspondent for China, Reuters

Thursday, September 25, 7:15PM at The Wooden Box

Every year, about 50,000 workers, most of them Chinese, arrive in Japan to work as “interns” through a shadowy Japanese government program. Many are considered bonded labor, having paid a large sum, or put up their family home as a guarantee, for the chance to work in Japan. In the factories and farms where these interns work, labor abuse is endemic. Critics say that these workers have become a source of exploited labor in a country with a deepening labor shortage and where discussion of immigration is taboo. Alexandra Harney, who investigated this issue for nearly a year for Reuters, will speak for us on the causes and implications of this program.

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Alexandra Harney is Special Correspondent for Reuters in China, based in Shanghai. A Mandarin and Japanese speaker, she was previously a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, based in Tokyo. She is author of The China Price: The True Price of Chinese Competitive Advantage (2008), an exploration of the human cost of China’s success as a manufacturer, which was translated into six languages and named a best book of the year on globalization by Library Journal. Her recently-published special report for Reuters, Foreign Interns Pay the Price for Japan’s Labor Shortage, is the basis of tonight’s talk. A former reporter and editor for the Financial Times in China, Japan and the UK, Harney has also contributed to the New York Times, Atlantic, and Wall Street Journal.

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Young China Watchers is a dynamic group of China-focused young professionals with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and London. Through regular speaker series and roundtables with senior figures in the China policy and business communities, it provides a chance for engaged individuals to interact and discuss the most pressing issues emerging from China today. It aims to build a global network, fostering the next generation of China thought-leaders.

This event is also co-sponsored with the Hopkins China Forum, organized by The Johns Hopkins University and its affiliated alumni associations worldwide.

We encourage you to RSVP and arrive early to secure seats.

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