It appears that the Rider’s League was basically acting like an independent union and independent unions have historically been opposed by Marxist-Leninist governments (Solidarity in the Polish People’s Republic being one of the rare examples of an independent union within a ML state and its unfortunate outcome likely hasn’t helped improve the reputation of independent union activity in the minds of many ML government officials. Cuba also discourages independent labor union activity). The ACFTU is the official party-affiliated union in China and is still undergoing a process of reform. It can still be pretty inefficient with only recently beginning to recruit large numbers of delivery workers and has secured only fairly minor gains so far for delivery workers, hence the presence of some independent labor organizing. Hopefully, this can get resolved effectively.

China struggle sessions continue even on socialist websites, much in the same way that class struggle continues even in socialist countries. Solidarity with the Riders’ League, workers are supposed to represented by the CPC’s union in China and things like this reveal the cracks in that system.

I live and study in China. Of course there are legitimate criticisms to be made, China is not perfect, no country is. But the wording of your post gives me weird vibes: “not everything that isn’t pro-CPC is CIA”.

Yes, of course not everything that isn’t pro-CPC is CIA, but that doesn’t make Western propaganda more true. It’s like you are trying to make the point that we should be trusting of the negative things we read about China, when most of the time they are lies, and there is clearly an open war/fabrication of consent/smear campaign against the country.

If your point is that China is not a perfect socialist state, and has many contradictions due his hybrid system, then I think most of us are already aware of this, no one is so delusional to think China is perfect.

Thanks for posting this. So many people on Chapo continue to insist that any story that showcases the neoliberal aspects of Chinese political economy is just CIA bait, mostly because (I would guess) they do not speak Chinese and are not particularly familiar with how the CCP’s has routinely treated striking workers and rural migrants. Instead, they just see a red flag, a ‘vanguard’ party, and state-owned enterprises, and assume that all contradictions between capital and labor have disappeared.

To the people saying this is CIA prop: Yeah it’s probably weaponized to some extent but the essence of the story is rational.

The delivery worker has in the past rallied workers and organized strikes in relation to other labor disputes, and is an important (founding?) member of an unsanctioned union-like-institution outside of the power structure of the party.

If I was a state actor, I think it’d be entirely rational to react to the delivery rider’s agit-prop video by picking up the dissident, if for nothing else than to prevent an immediate followup of organizing/direct action and for questioning.

Also this appears to not be the first time this individual has faced repercussions for non-party-affiliated labor organizing.

Support to Xiong Yan, and to the other gig employees elsewhere. I hope the CPC is trying to resolve this contention properly and are addressing the circumstances that led them to this point.