Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Entire villages which protest against the appropriation of their lands, businesses that send gangs against labour activists, police who beat and arrest workers for asking to be paid: China’s “society of harmony” increasingly resembles the US “Far West”, with citizens forced to defend themselves and claim the rights which the State “affirms”, but do not protect.
Thousands of farmers in Shunde district, Foshan, overturned and burned at least 10 trucks last week in a protest over compensation for land appropriated to erect high-voltage electricity pylons. Nearly 2,000 riot police were sent to the scene, resulting in heavy clashes. The farmer’s claim they have yet to be paid for the lands taken from them, while authorities denied rumours that a village leader had absconded with a large amount of money, and claim that the protests were sparked by concerns regarding the radiation from the plant, built close to their homes.
November 27 over 10 thousand workers from the Ai Gao electronics factory in Dong Wan (Guangdong) too the streets in protest against their employers detracting 282 Yuan from their salary of 690 Yuan (less then 70 euros a month) for food and board in houses where they sleep 16 people to one room. The police clashed with the protesters carrying off at least 100 people, including journalists. Following this the government in Dong Wan banned all reporting of the incident even via web.
In Shenzhen Labour activists have been subjected to random and cruel gang beatings for months. 34 year old former truck driver Huang Qingnan, had created a group called Dagongzhe, to explain a new law in vigour from January 1st to workers. The law is expected to be the most significant change in Chinese labour rules in more than a decade. It sets standards for labour contracts, the use of temporary workers and severance pay. It gives employees who have worked at a company for more than 10 years some protection against unjustified dismissal. Many companies have forced workers to resign, only to re-hire them in 2008, to deny them this right. On November 14, four pipe-wielding men thrashed the group’s offices. Six days later Huang was beaten and knifed in an attack by masked men, the tendons in his right leg cut and grave lesions made to his side. “They ere professionals” commented Huang to the South China Morning Post, and he accuses the local companies “of having sent out gangs to destroy the office and hit me”, “because we inform workers and create problems for the companies”.
Also in Shenzhen, a week before hand pro labour activist Li Jinxin was viciously beaten, and local press reports a further two beatings in recent months.
Liu Kaiming, another Shenzhen rights worker, accuses that the local authority knows who attacked Huang, but that “the government has too many vested interests to intervene”.
Anita Chan, a research fellow at Australian National University, says mainland companies have used thugs to attack enemies in business disputes, but rarely against labour groups in big cities. “I think Guangdong will be in big trouble if the trend develops. It will create a type of culture of violence, similar to what you find in Latin America”.
Observers accuse many local governments of being involved or of ignoring the abuse of labour rights by both private and state run companies. Recalling the saying of Mao Zedong that “our party and our state are founded on farmers and citizens, we must always be together united with them” they accuse public powers of hypocrisy and of tormenting the people just like the Japanese invaders of long ago. (PB)
