Thanks China, now go home: buy-up of Zambia revives old colonial fears

Backlash as cheap Chinese labour and products follow investment from Beijing By Chris McGreal in Lusaka

February 5, 2007 (Monday)

When the foundation stone was laid for the Mulungushi textile factory three decades ago, the project was hailed as another demonstration of communist China doing for Zambia what the capitalist west would not.........READ MORE

China and Southeast Asia: Emerging Problems in an Economic Relationship

By Walden Bello

The much publicized wooing of African countries by China exemplified by the China-Africa meeting that took place in Beijing in the first week of November brings up the question of how China is faring in its economic relations with its closest neighbors?...READ MORE

Welcome China! China’s Rise and its Increasing Role in ASEAN

By Dorothy-Grace Guerrero

Since joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, China increased its involvement in Asia to enhance its global competitiveness. The Chinese government shifted its diplomatic strategy from that of a developing country focused on issues of domestic concerns towards one that is taking regional and global leadership...READ MORE

The Post MFA era and the rise of China

Au Loong-Yu

The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) expired in 2005, ending 30 years of a quota system under the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA). Ending the ATC signalled the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) promotion of free trade in this sector...Download PDF

Is there a labour movement in China?

John Chen

Looking out of Hong Kong’s central public library window, I can see the tail end of the 40,000-strong demonstration I have just left. Composed mostly of working people demanding universal suffrage, the march has become a somewhat symbolic event since the heady days of July 2003 when over half a million marched against the planned introduction of a draconian security bill – and by implication for universal suffrage. Perhaps even more dramatic was the surrounding of the Legislative Council... READ MORE

The Informalisation of Work in China

Tim Pringle

The reader will forgive our opting for brevity over clarity in the title for this short paper. It suggests that the informalisation of work is a finished project and moreover that it has already run its course uniformly all over China. Such a scenario would entail a complete defeat of the Chinese working class at the hands of international capital and national authoritarianism – a combination that might be practically termed ‘authoritarian capitalism’.... READ MORE

Deconstructing Construction in China

This short paper aims to summarise the current condition of China’s construction industry from a labour perspective. The industry has been indispensable to the government’s overall economic strategy over the last 25 years of reform and has played a central role in employment policy, urban housing reform and large-scale infrastructure projects. How the construction industry is managed also has an indirect impact on migration policy, property management, urbanisation, anti-corruption campaigns and even education and medical reforms.....READ MORE

A Second wave of Labour Unrest in China?

Wong Kam Yan (Hong Kong, China)

There has been a 30 percent rise in collective riots in China in recent years. Whereas in 1993, there were 10,000 reported cases with 700,000 participants, in 2003 it jumped to 60,000 with 3 million participants. Among these examples, labour unrest has been quite outstanding, though it is difficult to get official statistics......READ MORE

Women workers in the “Chinese Century”

Au Loong-yu & Nan Shan

"A blossom rose,

Before it could enjoy the warmth of the sun,

Before it could feel the touch of a breeze,

Was mercilessly broken off from its branch,

Got mixed with mud in the ground, shattered.

Its sweet scent was still in the air,

Its color still red.

Maybe some affectionate young man,

Once wished to offer this rose to his beloved bride?”

This is a poem written by a male worker to mourn the death of two women...READ MORE

Farmers’ Plight in China

Nan Shan

February 2002

People who advocate for China’s entry to World Trade Organization (WTO) have to agree that China’s accession will have a great impact on its agriculture. During the last ten years before the accession, however, farmers already could not bear the burdens of high taxes and charges and increasing educational and medical expenses while the price of rice was decreasing......READ MORE

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