ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Jasic workers holding The Jasic Mao’s picture. PC: Mimi Lau, South Mobilisation China Morning Post. A High Tide for the Chinese Labour Movement?

AU Loong Yu

In the summer of 2018, workers at Shenzhen n July this year, 89 workers at the Shenzhen Jasic Technology demanded the right to set up Jasic Technology Co. Ltd demanded the a workplace union. What differentiates this Iright to set up a workplace union. In the episode from other labour struggles in the area past decade there has been an explosion of is the fact that the Jasic case was supported strikes in Shenzhen, and this dispute is one openly by a group of some 50 self-proclaimed of the many where workers have demanded Maoist and Marxist university students, better working conditions, owed wages, unpaid along with a small group of older citizens. social insurance, and severance pay. Yet, the In this essay, Au Loong Yu assesses this Jasic case is unusual in that it was supported unprecedented incident in which students and workers struggle together across institutions, (1) Part of this essay first appeared in Chinese in the provinces, generations, and class boundaries. Mingpao Daily, 30 August 2018. A more lengthy discussion on the issue by the same author appeared in the January 2019 issue of New Politics (newpol.org). All information reported here comes from the Internet or personal contacts.

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openly by a group of some 50 self-proclaimed past three months, more than 20 students Maoists and Marxist university students, along have been fiercely manhandled—some were with a small group of older citizens. Coming beaten up, some were attacked and kidnapped from different parts of China, they organised by thugs right on campus, and some have themselves into a ‘Jasic Worker Support Group’ simply disappeared. How are we to assess this and descended on Jasic to stand in solidarity unprecedented incident in which students and with the workers who were battling the police. workers struggle together across institutions, At the height of the Jasic campaign, these old across provinces, across generations, and and young Maoist supporters held up photos across class boundaries? of Chairman Mao and a banner reading ‘To Be Good Students of Chairman Mao Forever’. They created a website—which has now been Making History? removed from the Internet—called ‘Vanguard of the Era’ (Shidai xianfeng) calling for more support for their cause, ‘for the sake of the Professor Pun Ngai at the University of Hong working class’s awakening, for the sake of Kong has argued that the Jasic mobilisation Chairman Mao!’ (Wu 2018). They uploaded is a movement of ‘unity between workers and photographs of themselves on social media students’ and is of ‘historical significance’ (Pun posing in Maoist-like revolutionary heroic 2018). Indeed, the case is significant because it postures, disciplined and determined to fight was the first time in the past few decades that for their cause. One of them posted an article students have emerged in such a high profile entitled ‘Where Has Jinggangshan Gone? On the and organised manner to support a worker Jasic Struggle and the Future of Revolutionary protest. This stands in sharp contrast to what Revival’ (Luo 2018). Referring to the mountain happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989, when where Mao first established his guerrilla base intellectuals and students cordoned themselves in 1927 and to Mao’s revolutionary strategy of off from the workers at the very beginning of ‘encircling cities from the rural areas’ (nongcun the protests. After the democratic movement baowei chengshi), it proclaimed ‘Jinggangshan of the late 1980s failed, intellectuals soon split is here right now at Jasic and in all industrial into two main groups: Liberals (ziyoupai) and areas.’ the New Left (xinzuopai). Both of these groups Although Jasic supporters might not really subscribed to the false dichotomy of ‘state be advocating for an armed uprising, they do versus market’, while remaining indifferent to believe that the time is ripe for leftists in China the plight of the working masses. At best, only to escalate worker struggle from economic to a handful of the New Left intellectuals adopted political. The very moment the Maoists got a rhetoric of ‘fairness’ in their writings by involved, the incident quickly escalated from counterposing the liberal slogan of ‘prioritising a workplace trade union organising drive to efficiency’ for future reform with ‘prioritising a political struggle against local officials. The justice’ instead. As for the students, they heroic campaign was quickly and violently simply retreated to their study. It was not until suppressed. Four workers were arrested, the 2009 Guangzhou sanitation workers strike charged with disturbing the peace, and are that workers began to receive some support now awaiting trial. At the time of writing from students, who mostly participated as (December 2018), 28 supporters remain either individuals, rather than as a coordinated under house arrest or have been forcibly group. Thus, the fact that in the Jasic incident, disappeared (HRIC 2018). As for the students, more than 50 students put themselves at risk after they went back to their universities, they by acting in solidarity with the workers was were interrogated, disciplined, investigated, indeed a new development. threatened, and in some cases expelled. In the

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Nevertheless, Professor Pun goes on to the scenes. They also invited rural migrant make two other points that I have reservations activists and students to their classes and about. Firstly, she commends the incident as trainings. In 2005, they founded the ‘China having a second historical significance in that Labour Research Web’ (Zhongguo gongren for ‘the first time the workers consciously yanjiu wang), later renamed ‘Red China’ organised a trade union.’ The reality is that (Hongse Zhongguo), which was closed down there have been numerous cases of workers by the authorities in 2010. At that time, these going on strike to demand the reelecting Maoists prioritised state workers over rural or establishment of workplace unions. For migrant workers as they regarded the former as example, as early as 2004–05, workers at the more ‘revolutionary’ and the latter as lacking Shenzhen Japanese company Uniden went class consciousness. They mostly focussed on strike five times in one year. They finally their activities around the state workers in the succeeded in setting up a union but it was North, and if there were Maoist NGOs working quickly suppressed. Other examples were the in the South they maintained a very low profile. Ole Wolff case in Yantai in 2006, the Yantian The current rise of a new generation of young Container strike of 2007, and last but not least, Maoist students engaging so deeply in the Jasic the Nanhai Honda strike of 2010. struggle indicates the Maoists are turning Secondly, she remarks that ‘the actions of their attention to rural migrant workers in the the Jasic workers also show that Chinese South. That in the Jasic case they have decided workers have already transformed from purely to adopt a tactic of high-profile confrontational economic subjects into political subjects with resistance, was evidence of their determination class consciousness.’ True, the protest was and commitment given the highly repressive initially quite promising. The factory has just situation. over a thousand workers. So the fact that 89 workers signed on to request that a labour union be established—with 20 remaining in the Left and Right Maoists struggle after the crackdown—is significant, particularly considering the difficulty of labour organising in this type of context (see Zhang Earlier this decade, ‘Red China’—along with Yueran’s essay in this volume). However, is it ‘Utopia’ (wuyouzhixiang), a Maoist website possible to conclude that the average Chinese founded in 2003 by the well known Maoist/ worker has become a ‘political subject with Nationalists Fan Jinggang and Han Deqiang— class consciousness’ based on the actions of had placed their hopes in Bo Xilai to lead a less than 100 people in a single workplace? a left turn in the Party. For instance, Minqi Li, an academic based in the United States and a theoretician of ‘Red China’, placed great Red Resurgence expectations in Bo as ‘the last significant faction that was in opposition to neoliberal capitalism’, and argued that ‘by purging Bo Xilai from the Now that the suppression of students has Party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) captured the attention of the international leadership may have foregone their last and media, it is worth looking at the origins of these best opportunity to resolve China’s rapidly Maoist student groups in a bit more detail. The escalating economic and social contradictions reemergence of Maoist ideology among the in a relatively peaceful manner’ (Li 2016, 183 younger generation can be traced to the turn of and 38). the century. At that time, some older Maoists The fall of Bo in 2012 shattered these hopes, in North China began to resist the privatisation and since then the two labels ‘Left Maoists’ of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from behind (maozuo) and ‘Right Maoists’ (maoyou) have

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become common currency in online debates. A Fundamental Betrayal This means that the Maoists have definitely split into at least two camps: Right Maoists continue to advocate for the support of the The Chinese authorities in reality do not Party, as summed up in the slogan, ‘Defend the have any interest in ‘socialist’ principles, nor in Party and Save the State’ (baodang jiuguo), while Mao or Maoism. While Xi Jinping continues to Left Maoists, such as ‘Red China’, have become demand that the people learn from Marxism, more radical in criticising the Party, having Leninism, and Mao’s Thought, paradoxically, finally come to recognise that a qualitative the Party-state continues to crack down on any transformation to capitalism has taken place independent and collective efforts to seriously in China. Since the rise of Xi Jinping onwards, study the classic texts of the left, and ramps up they have become more explicit in advocating its attacks even more when these efforts carry resistance from below while continuing to an aspiration to sympathise with the working try to win over leading Party cadres through people. Repressing the resurgence of Maoism the invocation of the ‘socialist’ principles among the people is not new. Back in 2004 enshrined in the Constitution or in Mao’s work. the Zhengzhou police arrested and charged Although the Maoists have accumulated local Maoists who tried to assemble to pay a lot of experience in the North in supporting tribute to Mao. The Party-state’s crackdown the rights of state workers, their experiences on the Jasic workers and students today is cannot be applied to the workers in the just another incident reminding us that the private enterprises of the South without CCP has long since betrayed its own founding being substantially adapted. When the SOEs doctrine and is hostile to anyone who wants to underwent privatisation in the late 1990s to interpret Maoism differently from the officially early 2000s, the workers sometimes directly sanctioned line. confronted corrupt local officials who were There is much for us to learn from the Jasic responsible for the theft of public property. case. It should be the catalyst for us to begin They deployed the revolutionary ethos of the a long overdue public debate on the situation CCP to legitimise their political resistance. and strategy of China’s labour movement in This was natural and was even sometimes the midst of a crisis-ridden society. Whereas useful. But in the private companies of the previously labour constituted a silent majority South it is different. The conflict is chiefly one which remained basically absent from the between employees and employers. Moreover, debate between Liberals and the New Left, the revolutionary ethos of the CCP is less the Jasic case reminds us that the situation is likely to resonate with migrant workers, and changing, that more workers now want their so if actions escalate into political resistance voices to be heard, and that a debate on all the workers are less likely to be motivated. these issues is increasingly urgent. ■ Therefore, in the Jasic case, as in many other cases, when the local government cracked down on workers the struggle turned political. But when looking at the possibility to escalate this type of struggle one must also ask the question: are workers fully prepared for a political confrontation? Experience already tells us that in this specific case they were not.

MADE IN CHINA YEARBOOK 2018 75 This text is taken from Dog Days: A Year of Chinese Labour, Civil Society, and Rights, Made in China Yearbook 2018, edited by Ivan Franceschini and Nicholas Loubere, published 2019 by ANU Press, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

doi.org/10.22459/MIC.04.2019.09