China Labour, the voice of workers' protests in China, closes down

In Hong Kong, the NGO that reported on spontaneous worker protests and workplace accidents in mainland China has been forced to cease operations. It was founded in 1994 by activist Han Dongfang, who tried to set up an independent trade union in Tiananmen Square in 1989. A few hours after the announcement, the website was already down. Sixty civil society groups have now been dissolved since 2020.

Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) - In Hong Kong, the China Labour Bulletin has also been forced to close down. As of today, the website of the NGO, which for more than thirty years has been monitoring news of worker protests in factories in the People's Republic of China, is no longer online.

It was founded in 1994 by Han Dongfang, a Chinese railway worker originally from Shanxi who, during the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, founded the gōngzìlián, a workers' federation independent of the “official trade unions”.

Shocked by the crackdown on 4 June 1989, he spent 22 months in prison, where he contracted tuberculosis. He fled to the United States for treatment and was unable to return to Beijing, arriving in Hong Kong as an exile in 1993.

The following year, Han Dongfang launched the China Labour Bulletin to support workers' movements in China with the aim of making trade unions truly representative and providing accurate information on Chinese workers' activism. In addition to commentary and research, the CLB website monitored strikes and industrial accidents across the country.

The China Labour Bulletin has always been a very significant voice: we have often reported on it in AsiaNews in recent years, covering issues such as the transformation of the Chinese labour market and the supply chains of major global brands, starting with the concrete impact on workers.

The manner in which this interruption of activities has taken place is also striking. A brief note appeared on the website yesterday evening – immediately reposted by the Hong Kong Free Press website – stating: ‘The company is no longer able to maintain operations and has decided to dissolve and initiate the relevant procedures. As of today,’ the note continued, ‘our website will stop updating content and other social media platforms have also been removed. Thank you for your support and understanding.’

However, even these few lines can no longer be read today: the website and all its social media channels have been deactivated. It is therefore no longer possible to consult the archive of published articles. It is easy to see that these measures have much more to do with Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law than with financial problems.

At its headquarters in Cheung Sha Wan, the China Labour Bulletin employed more than a dozen full-time staff and initially received grants from a number of government and quasi-government agencies, as well as trade unions and private foundations.

Now, Hong Kong's new regulations have made receiving foreign grants to carry out activities of this kind a “threat to national security”. And so, this voice that gave a platform to ordinary workers who were victims of injustice in China has been silenced.

Since Beijing imposed a security law on Hong Kong in 2020, according to Hong Kong Free Press, around 60 civil society groups have disbanded or been forced to cease their activities.