Laogai--the Chinese Gulag

In this work, the author reveals the hidden world of the "e;laogaidui"e; - the PRC's labour reform camps. The author, a political prisoner for 19 years, takes the reader through the harsh reality found in the camps, describing their ideological origins, complex structures and living conditions. What makes the PRC's "e;laogaidui"e; unique, according to Wu, is the essential contribution to China's GNP of the commodities produced by the prisoners and the camps' concomitant indispensability to the nation's economic health.