China

Taxi drivers strike in central China

Thousands of taxi drivers took to the streets in the city of Chongqing earlier this week for improved conditions.

The strike, which began on Monday, saw 9,000 of Chongqing's taxis taken out of service as drivers protested over conditions; including high fees charged by their companies, unfair competition from unlicensed cabs, and a shortage of fuel.

Aufheben #16 (2008)

Aufheben Issue #16. Class conflicts in the transformation of China, The language of retreat: Paolo Virno’s A grammar of the multitude, Value struggle or class struggle?, Review: Forces of labour: Workers’ movements and globalisation since 1870 by Beverly J. Silver.

Available as printer-friendly pdf files listed below.

A battle for life

In 1958 the Communist Party of China had been in power for nearly a decade. This article is an example of the propaganda radicals such as the anarchist Ba Jin had to write in order to remain free, although he did not escape denunciation during the Cultural Revolution launched 8 years later.

Foreword

Nationalism and the road to happiness for the Chinese

This article by the Chinese anarchist writer Ba Jin was originally published in Awakening the People, No. 1, September 1921.

Chinese society is at the darkest stage now. Under such circumstances, young people become impotent and weak without the power to resist corruption. Even the brave ones can only keep quiet and submit to fate. When it is really unbearable, suicide is the only way out. China is paralyzed; where can we find happiness?

Workers riot in China

Migrant workers rioted for three days in a town in eastern China in a fresh sign of rumbling social unrest running up to the Beijing Olympics.

The protests began on 10 July in Kanmen in the coastal province of Zhejiang. Workers - reportedly angered by a beating meted out to a colleague - attacked a police station for three successive nights.

Riots in Weng'an County, southwest China, 30th June 2008

10,000 people riot in a southwestern province of China after the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl by the deputy mayor's son is covered up by police. Protesters attacked police stations and government buildings.

Strikes and protests in China

Bus drivers have been on strike, while the death of a blogger prompted protests and a taxi drivers protest in Hubei proviince.

A protest against a landfill site which is expanding into urban areas in Tianmen, Hubei province led to violence as protestors were attacked by Chengguang (City Management Officers).

Wei Wenhua, filming the incident from his car on his mobile phone was targeted and killed by the Chengguang during the incident.

China: man killed for filming repression

Wei Wenhua (41), who was filming clashes between villagers and officials on his camera phone, died after a beating from the goverment officials.

Mr Wenhua was attacked on Monday in the village of Wanba, outside of Tianmen City in the central Hubei province. Villagers were protesting against the dumping of rubbish on a wasteland site by their homes by the city's refuse service, claiming it was polluting the air and local water supply.

The Chinese anarchist movement

A history of the Chinese anarchist movement in France, Japan and China itself from 1900 up to the formation of the Chinese Communist Party.

R. Scalapino and G.T. Yu.

Berkeley: Center for Chinese Studies, 1961

Contents
Editor's Note
Preface
The Origins of Chinese Anarchism
Anarchism and the Nationalist Revolution
The Work-Study Movement
The Anarchist Conflict With Marxism
Editor's Footnote

Editor’s Note

China: miners strike attacked

800 striking miners at the Tanjiashan Coal Mine in Hubei Province fought hired security guards for two hours last week after they attempted to break a six day strike.

Radio Free Asia reported that the security guards set about the workers and in the ensuing clash at least one worker and one security guard died. The conflict lasted about two hours, during which time the workers vented their anger by attacking company offices and two nearby police vehicles they believed had been used to transport management's hired security guards to the mine.