On July 1, striking workers at a Japanese-owned electronics factory in the Chinese city of Tianjin stalled production for a third day and vowed to continue their fight until bosses agreed to better pay and conditions, the Morning Star said that day. It is the latest in a spate of work stoppages to hit foreign transnationals operating in China.
Workers have hung large banners outside the factory gate reading: 鈥淗uman traffickers are not welcome鈥, 鈥淲e want a pay rise鈥 and 鈥淲e want fair treatment鈥.
China
The next time someone tells you that Marx or Marxism is outdated because capitalism is not as exploitative as it was in the 19th century, just crack open your copy of Capital, turn to the chapter on the working day, and compare its vivid depiction of the brutalisation of the British working class to the state of the working class in China today.
It鈥檚 been dubbed the 鈥渟uicide express鈥 by Chinese media, LabourStart.org said in an appeal to support workers in a Chinese factory at which there has been a spate of suicides by its workforce.
鈥淭welve workers, all between 18 and 24 years old, have committed suicide, at the production facilities of Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwan-owned enterprise based in Shenzhen, southern China.
鈥淔oxconn is a key supplier to various leading brands including Apple. International brands constantly drive down prices and demand shorter delivery time when placing orders.
聯Go Red for China!聰 was the slogan unveiled on the Chinese mainland by Pepsi-Cola, whose ubiquitous blue can will, 聯for a limited time聰, be red.
On November 20, two unidentified thugs use butchers聮 cleavers to brutally attack Huang Qingnan, an organiser of the Dagongzhe Centre in the south China foreign capital haven of Shenzhen, leaving him seriously injured. The assault came on the heels of the October 11 and November 14 attempts to
ransack the workers聮 centre by an unidentified gang, leaving behind extensive property damage.
After more than one-and-a-half decades of constant erosion under Beijing聮s pro-capitalist policies, China聮s public sector has shrunk to less than 40% of the country聮s economy, and an even smaller share of industry and services.
On July 29, three leaders of a 29-month factory occupation in the city of Chongqing, in China聮s southwest Sichuan province, were each sentenced to suspended prison sentences of 18 months.
Four days after the October 17-21 17th Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), the country鈥檚 government body dealing with public petitions and complaints 鈥 the State Bureau for Letters and Calls (SBLC) 鈥 held a national conference to map out new strategies to step-up its role in managing China鈥檚 escalating social conflicts.
At its 16th Congress five years ago, the Communist Party of China (CPC) amended its constitution to allow the admission of capitalists to its ranks and to legitimise the swelling number of capitalists already in its membership. Today, 3 million of its total membership of 73 million are capitalists 聴 over 4%.
Despite China聮s spectacular GDP growth of nearly 10% per year since 1978 聴 and despite Beijing聮s claim that the country remains on a socialist course 聴 in the eight years to 2005, workers聮 wages as a proportion of GDP plunged from 53% to 41.4%.
Class-free analysis seeking to justify Beijing聮s pursuit of capitalism with a human face will likely find a place in the Communist Party of China聮s constitution at the party聮s 17th congress, which begins on October 15. A scheduled constitutional amendment is expected to be couched in such terms as the pursuit of a 聯socialist harmonious society聰 and a 聯people-centred聰 聯scientific concept of development聰, which will be credited as 聯major theoretical developments聰 of CPC general secretary Hu Jintao.
Since Beijing聮s push to speed-up privatisation in the mid-1990s, left-leaning intellectuals in China have increasingly made use of Dushu (Readings), a monthly discussion magazine, as a platform to challenge this policy direction and Beijing聮s overall pro-capitalist agenda. They highlighted the horrific social consequences of Beijing聮s course and have generated waves of debates on the way forward for China.
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