China

Working conditions in many Chinese sweatshops and factories are abominable, just like the European factories and sweatshops of the 19th century that Karl Marx railed against.

I’m not knowledgable on these cases. Can someone else look into this?

Additional comment since it's another thing entirely. This is not true anymore. Their info is severely out of date, like most westerners when they speak about China. Nowadays "sweatshops" (they mean factories) even have trouble finding employees because the new generation doesn't want to do it. They have other opportunities. It's come to the point where some factories will lodge you, feed you, and pay you a sign-on bonus on top of your normal wage. Many younger people in China do it as a summer job.

Regarding the two links they gave: the wsws article is a nice fanfic (trot website btw). They don't say where the factory is located in China, they don't show any pictures from it, and they end with a nice "please president Biden bomb my country we need world revolution" but like, socialist or something lol. The BBC article is just fearmongering about Shein. Shein does not use "slave labor", they make money and tight deadlines with economics of scale mostly. This is well-documented from those who have actually studied how Shein works. It's just that western companies can't compete so of course they accuse. I couldn't tell you more about it because even I don't entirely remember it, but the info is out there if you look hard enough probably. There's also the whole thing about 'fast fashion' as if western fashion isn't fast... it is, under the actual definition.

They say it themselves in the BBC article:

A major advantage, he adds, is that Shein's supply chain is in China: "Very few countries have a complete supply chain. China has this - and nobody can compete."

But this is just fear-mongering:

The buildings have been hollowed out to make way for sewing machines, rolls of fabric and bags brimming with cloth scraps. The doors to their basements are always open for the seemingly endless cycle of deliveries and collections.

Buildings get repurposed all the time. You can also remove the clothing factories and do something else with it. Wow! Such a novel concept: reusing buildings instead of demolishing them all the time. Fast construction.

I knew I had issues with Current Affairs and this is why. Using the aesthetic of Marxism with none of the actual substance. Doing a shoutout to Marx and expecting everyone to turn their heads and bow in reverence at the name drop. I don't even know where Marx 'railed' against 19th century factories, he probably did, but his bigger point was not so much the conditions of the factories but the condition of the proletariat. They're making him seem like a socdem... because that's what they are.