{"id":7533,"date":"2016-09-10T11:20:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T15:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=7533"},"modified":"2016-09-14T11:24:15","modified_gmt":"2016-09-14T15:24:15","slug":"rfa-e-book-by-han-dongfang-uncovers-dark-side-of-chinas-economic-rise-proposes-a-way-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/rfa-e-book-by-han-dongfang-uncovers-dark-side-of-chinas-economic-rise-proposes-a-way-out","title":{"rendered":"RFA e-book by Han Dongfang uncovers \u2018dark side of China\u2019s economic rise,\u2019 proposes a way out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an e-book today that highlights the struggles and challenges faced by China\u2019s workers during the country\u2019s dramatic economic rise. \u201cChina\u2019s Workers Wronged,\u201d available for a free download on RFA\u2019s website<\/span><\/a>, is based on 88 interviews with Chinese workers conducted in recent years by China Labor Bulletin Executive Director Han Dongfang for RFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina\u2019s workers\u2019 struggles are an underreported story that deserves more attention,\u201d said Dan Southerland, RFA\u2019s Executive Editor. \u201cHan Dongfang brings the dark side of China\u2019s economic rise to light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this e-book, RFA makes available to our audiences an important, in-depth investigation of a story so often overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse has been well documented, less well known is how ordinary workers reaped few rewards during this period of astounding growth. Their side of the story is subject to censorship in the Chinese state media and is often underreported in Western media. Roughly half of Han\u2019s interviewees were victims of the injuries or illness endemic among coal miners, construction workers and others whose local governments deny them the benefits that are owed to them. Some interviewees tell of being cheated out of their wages or arbitrarily reassigned to jobs with lower pay and poorer working conditions. Some are simply fired without compensation.<\/p>\n

Seeking justice through the court system, they often hit a stone wall. As Han explains in the foreword to his book, China\u2019s official trade union is \u201cin league with the Communist Party and the factory bosses, and does nothing to represent the workers.\u201d Many of these stories are harrowing, but are also inspiring. The book closes with several encouraging examples of how workers have come together to defend their legal rights and push for better pay and working conditions. \u201cGoing forward,\u201d states Han, \u201cthe key task for China\u2019s workers is to reclaim the trade union and make it an effective bulwark against employer abuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based in Hong Kong, Han Dongfang has been an advocate for workers\u2019 rights in China for more than two decades. He first came to international prominence during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 when, as a railway worker, he helped set up China\u2019s first independent trade union, the Beijing Autonomous Workers\u2019 Federation. In 1993, he was expelled to Hong Kong, where the following year he set up the China Labor Bulletin to promote labor rights in mainland China. He also has his own radio talk show on Radio Free Asia in which he conducts regular interviews with Chinese workers and farmers.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.bbg.gov\/2016\/09\/09\/rfa-e-book-han-dongfang-uncovers-dark-side-chinas-economic-rise-proposes-way\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radio Free Asia (RFA) published an e-boo … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,161],"tags":[1792,1793,1794],"views":5032,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7534,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7533\/revisions\/7534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}