The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 69/No. 47           December 5, 2005  
 
 
China: working people protest
layoffs, unsafe conditions
 
BY SAM MANUEL  
WASHINGTON—Protests by workers and farmers in China against deteriorating job and living conditions and growing social inequalities are on the rise, according to government officials in Beijing. Millions have been involved in such actions, sometimes involving bloody clashes with cops.

Working people face growing unemployment and high taxes in the cities and loss of farmland in rural areas. These conditions are the result of government policies that promote foreign investment and capitalist market methods in growing sections of the economy as industrialization accelerates.

Zhou Yongkang, China’s top police official, said 74,000 major protests took place in 2004, involving 3.7 million people. That’s up from 58,000 protests a year earlier. In August Beijing announced plans to establish special police units in 36 cities to deal with such actions.

In October, 4,000 steelworkers and family members reportedly blocked traffic and clashed with police to protest layoffs at the Chongging Special Steelworks. Another 10,000 steelworkers demonstrated September 20 at the headquarters of the Anshan Iron and Steel Group, which recently merged with another company to form China’s second-largest steelmaker, according to the Interfax News Agency. Protests by workers are becoming a trend as large state-owned companies close or merge with others to become more competitive and efficient.

Rapid industrialization in rural areas has also led to protests against detrimental effects on the environment. In April, over 20,000 residents of the Huaxi township fought with about 3,000 cops while protesting pollution from chemical plants.

Protests by farmers are also on the rise as they are increasingly forced off the land to make way for factories and office complexes. In November earthmovers mowed down hundreds of tea and fruit trees that provide a livelihood for farming families in Xishan, reported the Los Angeles Times. Three families were removed to make way for a software park. Farmers say local officials announced plans last year to seize 30 acres of land, evicting 128 families. Last year China’s legislature received 5,407 formal complaints about land seizures.

In October the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, began deliberation on a bill that would for the first time allow individual farmers to sell land. Land in China remains nationalized with individual farmers having long-term renewable leases.

Widening social inequalities are a factor in the protests. Annual incomes in the cities now average over $1,000, compared to $370 in rural areas. The National People’s Congress recently doubled the maximum level at which people are exempt from income taxes to 1,600 yuan ($200) a month.

Beijing is also considering loosening residency restrictions to meet labor shortages in 11 provinces, reported Reuters. One of the provinces, Guandong, where migration accounts for more than a quarter of its 110 million inhabitants, still expects to fall short of its labor needs by 1 million workers. One proposal would end the official disparity in access to health care, education, and social security between rural and city dwellers to encourage the movement of workers.

Foreign companies invested $60 billion in China last year to produce consumer goods for a growing domestic middle class. For example, there are now 377 million cell phone users in China, nearly twice as many as in the United States.

China’s industry is fueled by coal—providing about 67 percent of energy needs. Thousands of workers die in mine accidents in China annually. From January to September of this year, 4,228 people were killed in such accidents, reported the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Beijing announced it would close 4,000 mines considered unsafe. In addition, it has ordered that a least one manager accompany workers in the mine during each shift, according to Beijing News.  
 
 
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