What I find shocking in this article are the sums of money owing. The minimum wage in China is between about $2 and $4 per hour. To be owed in the thousands of dollars means they have been working hundreds (thousands) of hours for free.
In a country as unequal and as stratified as China, with the access to information people have today, there is certainly a strong possibility that a reckoning may be slowly brewing.
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Citizens in communist China are fighting for worker protections and rights.
Citizens in the democratic/republic United States are fighting for voting rights and equal representation.
Now I'm just waiting to hear about the repression of Catholics in Vatican City.
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That's the problem for dictatorships; while things go well, it all accrues to the leader and when things go wrong it all accrues to the leader too. In a democracy, you throw the "bums" out, things change, and hope - the real catalyst of political and social stability - remains in place.
All dictatorships eventually become mass repressors to stay in power - like Venezuela - and it eventually leads to revolt no matter how hard the leadership clamps down.
For economic and cultural reasons, China has a long way to go til its population stands up en masse but the eventual outcome is certain; China will eventually evolve into some from of a two party system or it will without fail, collapse of its own weight from corruption and bad management.
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"The activists have used the teachings of Mao and Marx to argue that China’s embrace of capitalism has exploited workers."
No surprise here. I've been saying that China is really a totalitarian state. It resembled a communist state in the era of Mao. It's like what a history professor of mine used to say: That the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman nor an empire.
I've argued with some Chinese online. I notice that for many as long as they are earning money things we take for granted like freedom of speech and the right to assemble to protest are secondary to them. But if you work and still are not paid for the fair work you do that might be the beginning of the end of the one-party control. When people have a full belly and a place to sleep at night they might be willing to put up with less freedoms. But an empty belly and a possible eviction from one's home would not sit well with the most die-hard party sympathizer.
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@Wayne
In the early 60s, tens of millions of Chinese literally starved to death, yet this did not destabilize the Communist Party. Only a few years later, Mao was able to mobilize popular support against reformist elements of the Communist Party in the Cultural Revolution.
People naturally tend to become more authoritarian when they are facing economic anxiety and poverty. They are naturally inclined to blame foreign powers rather than their own government (especially when said foreign power is openly enacting policies intended to weaken your economy). This is true with some Trump supporters in America too. Thus, I expect that economic weakness in China will only strengthen support for the Communist Party and increase its repressiveness.
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@Aoy Those years you speak of were different under Mao. Back then he forced most of the people into an agrarian lifestyle. So if you were living on a farm and you could not grow enough to feed yourself then Mao's argument would be that's your problem. Back then China was mostly poor. Beijing or Peking as it was written in those days the traffic was mostly of people peddling bicycles. Not the kind of pollution we see today with smog and people wearing face masks.
The problem for the party today is that people have grown accustomed to living with material things. Even if they work in factories they can own a smartphone. Some even own iPhones. Also there is a market for manufacturing counterfeit goods without fear of reprisals from the government about trade patents. The Chinese government view is people need to eat and survive that's why they don't crack down on counterfeiting brand name good.
In the article social media was mentioned. It's about the only avenue left to complain because the government has closed down all means of complaining that someone did not get paid and deserves his check. Contrast that with the federal government here telling illegal aliens that they are entitled to be paid even if they are undocumented. I think Trump learned that the hard way when illegals from Poland sued him in court for failure to pay them while working on Trump Tower. China is not what it once was. There are enough people in China to start a revolution if they have the guts.
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Meanwhile here in New York City, a cab fare rising "congestion pricing" is going to be another major hit to New York City taxi drivers, eight of whom have recently committed suicide from financial stress. And where is the editorial outcry? . . President Trump wants to frighten the country because the young workers of America are turning to Socialism. At the moment, it is true, the capitalists have the advantage over the workers of being able to use the workforce, that is, build factories, in China or anywhere on the planet. But with world wide communication systems tying Asia and America closer together, in the long run, workers in China (and Indonesia and India, countries where there are vast labor movements) will coordinate their actions with the workers in America. When the workers "globalize," that will spell the end of capitalism.
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@Red Allover if you really live in Manhattan as you claim you should know this has been in the news every week. It might not be in an editorial but it sure has been in articles. Also the taxi alliance has been in state court to press their grievances. The same cannot be said in China. China wants to use brute force to quell dissent. To tell you the truth I wish some of those yellow cabs would operate in Brooklyn where they won't have to worry about congestion pricing them out and going poor as they say. In a way they have helped create their own problems. Because they refused to provide services to the outer boroughs Bloomberg came up with the green cabs with meters. From what I've read these green cab drivers are doing well. Manhattan is a small borough with the majority of the subway lines running through there. It's easy to catch a subway train there. Plus lots of buses. The people who take taxis will most likely keep taking them and not worry about the cost.
Your comparison of congestion pricing affecting taxi drivers with people who work in China but did not get their paychecks for month is not a fair comparison. Not only that but the government there sides with management. Every avenue of helping those affected have been shut down by the government. So what's left? Posting on social media to complain and a threat to jump off the building where one man works. There is no media to turn to --the freedom you have to write your comment. The cab industry made their own bed.
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My goodness.
What will we Americans and other western democracies do now?
We have our entire economic lifestyles wrapped around dependable cheap Chinese labor.
Let me guess: We'll say a few thoughtful things through our political representatives.
But we will subconsciously hope and pray these misguided laborers come around to our way of thinking and keep doing our slave labor.
We don't Wall Street to panic.
As long as we are "free" we really don't lose too much sleep do we, America?
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Good to see the New York Times taking the part of - or at least reporting on - the trials and tribulations of workers in China. When will readers be able to see similar reportage on the trials and tribulations of their counterparts in the United States ?...
Henri
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China has tried to show the world that there is another way to achieve financial growth.
In general with rising prosperity come greater choices of action and thought. China has tried to have the former while clamping down on the latter.
This was possible while the economy was growing fast but now that it has cooled, the Chinese govt is trying to figure out how to address the grievances of workers.
Chinese Communist Party is the sole decision maker so while it got all the kudos earlier, it has to accept all the blame now.
I am afraid that to distract the people from its failures, China will try to stoke nationalistic fervor. It will be very important that America does not lend itself as an "enemy" for Chinese govt propaganda while the trade negotiations are going on.
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To the government, calling out the party for not being Marxist is like children openly denouncing their birth parents,” she said. “It is seen as outright defiance and rejection of the state-led socialism.”
China suffers from an untenable duality of corporate capitalism taken to the extreme while preaching the virtues of a socialist dream that protect workers. They bow before the bloodthirsty greed of corporations while paying mere lip service to workers' rights. They want an economic model that is based on having a virtual labor force where state run corporations can maximize profit at the expense of their workers. They gutted any attempts for workers to collectively bargain in good faith, express any legitimate grievances, and to peacefully assemble in order to protest their angst and frustration against their bosses. Which leads to a powder keg that ready to explode at a drop of a lit match a la Tiananmen Square. The question is will Mr. Xi roll out the tanks to squash any political unrest.
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@damon walton
With minor variations - sort of reads like something much closer to home.
"Will Mr Trump roll out the tanks to squash any political unrest?"
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This view of current labor unrest in China is in sharp contrast with China’s public declaration to become the AI superpower by the year 2025. If the workers aren’t paid, they won’t be fed and if they aren’t fed they will not build the infrastructure to achieve that AI dominance. We are about to relearn some new /old rules about winner take all economies and how the masses survive.
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