London Child Reportedly Finds Messages Of Labor Abuses In Christmas Cards From Chinese Factory

An English supermarket chain said Monday it was suspending its agreement with a Chinese production factory after a young girl reportedly found messages in Christmas cards accusing the factory of forced labor.

Florence Widdicombe, 6, reportedly found the messages in a box of Tesco charity Christmas cards her parents bought her to send to friends. The young girl from south London allegedly found one already used, with a message reportedly aimed at the Chinese factory the cards were made.

“We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China,” the card allegedly said. “Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization.”

Tesco suspended its working deal with the factory in response and has pulled the cards from shelves as the accusations are investigated by the company.

Tesco said in a press release: “We abhor the use of prison labour and would never allow it in our supply chain. We were shocked by these allegations and immediately suspended the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation. We have also withdrawn these cards from sale whilst we investigate.

“We have a comprehensive auditing system in place and this supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labour. If a supplier breaches these rules, we will immediately and permanently de-list them.”

However, this is not the first time accusations of forced labor at Chinese factories around Christmas have come up. Notes of alleged abuse have reportedly been found in cards for years, though these have been disputed by both retailers and the Chinese government.

“We have never been involved in such activities that the media reported,” a Tesco representative told CNN. “We think someone is smearing us. The only thing I can tell you is that we don't have labor from Shanghai Qingpu prison, so you should ask Qingpu prison what's exactly going on and why their workers would write such notes.”