Laogai Flashcards
What does ‘laogai’ mean?
Laogai means ‘reform through labour’.
What types of people went there? What types of crimes had they committed?
Criminals, political prisoners, doctors, engineers and experts were put in the labour camps. People were sent there if they were suspected of being against the communist ideology.
What type of work did they do?
Labour intensive work including building roads, digging reservoirs, preparing land for cultivating and mining.
What were conditions like in these camps?
Poor. People were mistreated and often tortured. Disease spread easily and people had to do labour with little or no clothes.
How many people do Jung and Haliday estimate died in those camps during Mao’s rule?
60 million people.
What as the difference between laogai and laojiao?
In laojiao’s people were arrested and sent there but couldn’t be released until authorities decided they could.
How many were held in prisons during any one year of Mao’s rule?
10 million.
