My church choir director, a kind American lady in her 70s, asked me about the recent workers’ protests in China and shared her hopes for positive change. Bless her heart. Sadly, the reality is that despite many protests since the 1980s, the Chinese Communist regime has remained firmly in control.
Chinese Workers’ Protests: Rooted in China’s Political System, Not U.S. Tariff Pressures
Recent headlines such as ‘Protests by Unpaid Chinese Workers Spread Amid Factory Closures’ are, in fact, nothing new. While today’s reports attempt to link these protests to the impact of steep U.S. tariffs and China’s economic slowdown, the reality is that hardworking Chinese laborers have been protesting against greedy, irresponsible, and lawless business owners for decades. U.S. tariffs may have triggered an escalation, but the root cause lies in China’s political system.
With Wages Delayed, Migrant Workers Head Home Empty-Handed for Chinese New Year
Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who founded the People’s Republic of China, died in 1976. In the 1980s, the CCP government began reforming the economy by cautiously opening up to Western countries and allowing Chinese individuals to start private businesses in service sectors and light industries, such as catering, garment and toy manufacturing. Most of the laborers were young, able-bodied farmers who left their impoverished villages to earn money for the families they left behind.
In the 1990s, the term ‘Wan Yuan Hu’—referring to someone who was wealthy and owned at least 10,000 yuan—became widely known. Most Wan Yuan Hu were private business owners who capitalized on China’s limited free market by investing in booming industries and exploiting migrant workers. In cities, restaurant employees were paid meager wages while being forced to work long hours. Along the east coast, where export-driven factories dominated the economy, small factory owners built enclosed workshops to restrict workers’ access to restrooms. Ironically, the very capitalist exploitation that Marxism condemned was happening everywhere in China.
Every year before the Chinese New Year, millions of migrant workers pack train stations and trains for weeks as they return home to reunite with their families. Yet each year, some employers withhold wages, claiming they lack the cash to pay. According to a 2017 Voice of America report, China had experienced more than 2,000 street protests over unpaid wages since February 2016, with over 130 protests in December alone. One protester shared, ‘We can’t survive without this small amount of money, which still hasn’t come. Each of us has to work to support a family of five or six.’
Protecting Workers? Just a Propaganda Line
Each year, the Chinese government publicly celebrates May 1st—International Labor Day—as a show of support for workers. However, in reality, labor unions in China are permitted only under strict control by the Communist Party. Instead of advocating for workers’ rights, these unions are tasked with ‘educating’ workers to remain loyal to the Party and follow government directives.
Chinese workers can take their employers to court over unpaid wages, but the judiciary operates under the control of the Communist Party. In many cases, courts are corrupt and collude with business owners, as bribery is widespread at all levels of government—from local to provincial.
I lived in China for 40 years before I escaped the regime. Many Chinese still remember the 2007 Chinese slave scandal, which was exposed by a few courageous Chinese journalists. The scandal involved a series of forced labor cases in Shanxi Province, where thousands—including many children—were enslaved in illegal brickyards and subjected to brutal abuse. By June 2007, approximately 550 individuals had been rescued. Business owners had bribed local officials, and corrupt police not only turned a blind eye but actively helped cover up the crimes.
The slave labor scandal did not lead to meaningful systemic change. In fact, there was no public record of victims receiving compensation. The government simply announced the closure of the illegal businesses and the arrest of a few owners. However, there was no transparency regarding follow-up investigations or any concrete improvements to labor regulations protecting migrant workers.
1989: China’s Largest Uprising—and the Regime Didn’t Flinch
In 1989, I was one of the student protesters in Tiananmen Square. We called on the government to implement reforms—fight corruption, establish the rule of law, and protect workers’ rights. On April 27 alone, nearly 100,000 students from universities across Beijing marched through the capital, breaking through police barricades and gaining widespread public support, especially from factory workers.
Today, most Chinese young people know little or nothing about the events of 1989. Without freedom of speech or a free press, the regime has successfully erased history and concealed the massacre that took place in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The mass protests did not lead China toward democracy; instead, the Communist Party has further tightened its grip on power.
Conclusion
In China, justice is almost never served—because one party holds absolute power over the courts, the legislature, the executive, and every branch of government. Without checks and balances, accountability disappears. For millions of workers, victims, and dissenting voices, this means suffering in silence while the system protects the powerful. Until that changes, true justice will remain out of reach.