Jobseeker, fearing forced labour, carries book on warfare

A man who was trying to work illegally in Southeast Asia feared being kidnapped and coerced into forced labour so much he carried a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of

War with him.

The man, surnamed Luo, travelled to Dongxing city in Guangxi province, on the border with Vietnam. His plan was to sneak across and find work.

Luo travelled with two other men who had the same intention, and two smugglers. They were caught by police on March 18, The Paper reported.

A video shows the group of men having dinner at a restaurant before being taken to the police station. On checking Luo’s bag, officers found a copy of Sun Tzu’s The book was written by the ancient Chinese military strategist in the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-481 BC). It is one of the most influential treatises on warfare strategy in history.

“Why did you take this book with you?” an officer asks Luo in the video.

Handcuffed and crouched on the floor, he replies that he had watched many videos on Douyin that gave interpretations of the book, and thought that would be of help to him in Southeast Asia.

“I bought a copy to see whether I can learn something from it,” Luo told the officer.

“After all, it’s dangerous overseas,” he added.

“I only know that my monthly salary will range from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan [HK$11,041 to HK$22,083], but I have no idea what the job or what its responsibilities will be,” he said.

Luo and the other two men were fined, while the smugglers were detained and charged with criminal offences.

The story has sparked debate on mainland social media.

“He believes that the book will protect him and save him from being tortured,” said one online observer.

“Ha ha, he must have misread the great book and its wisdom,” another said.

In recent years, Chinese nationals have found themselves tricked into forced labour in Southeast Asia. Scammers often post a fake job with high salaries then kidnap the applicant.

Aside from being forced to work for shady companies, they are often tortured, sexually assaulted and even threatened with organ harvesting.

In December last year, a man, 26, in central China was rescued after three years of torture overseas. He had been forced into a life of crime after buying a cheap holiday package from a gang.

In February 2022, a man was smuggled to the Cambodian coastal city of Sihanoukville by a criminal gang and later forced to work for telemarketing fraud racketeers.