[2] These arrangements were generally looked upon as charitable and a form of adoption,[3] as the young women would be provided for better as mui tsai than they would if they remained with their family.
[8] This slave trade were officially called adoptions in order to avoid scrutiny from the authorities, since the colonial powers in the Dutch East Indies had banned slavery, and it was known to continue during the Interwar period.
[9] In 1922, Rashid Rida, editor of the progressive Egyptian newspaper al-Manar, condemned the purchase of Chinese slave girls for concubinage and denied that it should be seen as legitimate.
[12] The British tried to convince the coastal local rulers of the Aden Protectorate to sign an agreement to ban the slave trade, but by January 1939, few had done so.
Before 1923, the Hong Kong government did not impose any restrictions on the transfer of girls as mui tsais, as this was treated as a family matter or traditional custom.
[citation needed] In 1922, after press campaigns in Britain and support from MPs (including John Ward in the House of Commons), the Secretary of State for the ColoniesWinston Churchill, pledged that the mui tsai system in Hong Kong would be abolished within one year.
Under pressure from the British Parliament, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong enacted the Female Domestic Service Bill the next year, prohibiting further importations and transfers of mui tsais.
The Presbyterian Mission House in San Francisco's Chinatown rescued Chinese girls and women from abusive circumstances.
[20] This slave trade were officially called adoptions in order to avoid scrutiny from the authorities, since the colonial powers in the Dutch East Indies had banned slavery, and it was known to continue during the Interwar period.