INTERVIEW: Chinese union leader fights on for workers rights

Jun 2, 2009, 6:48 GMT

INTERVIEW: Chinese union leader fights on for workers rights By Bill Smith, dpa Eds: Part of a package on the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on the Chinese democracy movement; epa photos 00000401738299, 00000401738302, others available =

   Beijing (dpa) - The voice of Han Dongfang still reaches Chinese workers 20 years after he led an independent trade union in China's 1989 democracy movement.

   But today, Han's words as an advocate for Chinese labourers arrive over the airwaves and the internet in radio broadcasts from his home city of Hong Kong.

   Han, now 46, was an unwilling exile from mainland China, unlike several other leaders of the 1989 democracy movement.

   Many of the 1989 student leaders have forged careers as writers, academics or entrepreneurs in the West while Han remains close to his roots in activism, two decades after his arrest following a June 3-4, 1989, government crackdown on demonstrations that had centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square

   Unlike some overseas-based Chinese democracy activists who claimed that only political stagnation has accompanied China's rapid economic growth of the past 20 years, Han saw progress on both fronts after the government crushed the protests that had called for democracy and other political and social rights.

   'The Chinese government did make progress, including in its work on economic policies, political policies and legislation,' he told the German Press Agency dpa.

   He added, however, that it has retained its fear of criticism.

   'The Chinese government did not completely overcome its fear of politics, so its will to control politics is still very strong, so, if possible, I would like to find more chances to give the government more self-confidence, not always overreacting or thinking that others are plotting and want to overthrow them,' Han said.

   He identified corruption among officials and the closely allied business elite as a major problem for the ruling Communist Party.

   Anger at corruption was perhaps a bigger factor behind the early 1989 protests than the demand for democratic reforms.

   Han concurred with the view promoted by the party that corruption is mainly due to rogue officials rather than government policies, and he said rights activists and the central government have the 'same aim and common interests' in fighting corruption.

   'People want to expand civil society largely because they want to fight against corruption,' he said.

   'There are two victims of corruption: One is the interests of ordinary people in the economic aspects; another is the political aspect, where the central government is the victim,' Han said while arguing that the government would benefit from promoting civil society.

   'From this angle of dealing with corrupt officials, the central government should lay down its fear of a rising civil society and should encourage civil society to develop so as to curb corruption effectively,' he said.

   The party listed Han, a former soldier who was then a railway worker, as one of its most wanted activists after the 1989 protests.

   Twenty years ago, he initially started attending rallies in Beijing's Tiananmen Square out of curiosity and sympathy with the students, and he later volunteered to help lead the Beijing Autonomous Workers Federation.

   Han fled from the square as the troops closed in June 3-4, 1989, with tanks and live ammunition, reportedly killing hundreds of unarmed civilians who allegedly blocked their route.

   But he then surrendered to the police once he heard that he was on their wanted list. After his detention, the authorities held him for 22 months without charge.

   When Han became seriously ill with tuberculosis, he was allowed to travel to the United States for treatment in 1992.

   The Chinese government cancelled his passport while he was in the United States and has refused to let him return.

   Han chose to settle on the southern border of mainland China in Hong Kong, which has since reverted to Chinese sovereignty as a 'special administrative region.'

   In Hong Kong, Han is free to research and promote labour rights and to provide legal help for Chinese workers.

   He publishes the China Labour Bulletin and has a weekly radio show, which is also circulated as podcasts in China.

   'In my Radio Free Asia programme, I have two focuses - farmers and workers,' he said.

   The development of collective bargaining and the right to strike are the two key issues for workers in China, Han said.

   Although workers have no legal right to strike, there are strikes 'almost every day' in the southern manufacturing province of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, he said.

   The greater tolerance of the government toward technically illegal industrial action is another small sign of progress, Han said.

   Some striking workers are fired by their employers but few are arrested by local police any more, he said.

   'In the next five years, the most important step for defending Chinese workers rights is to establish institutions for collective bargaining in enterprises,' he said. 'Workers' negotiations are not to challenge the government, not political.

   'On the contrary, through collective negotiations, labour disputes will be reduced,' Han said, adding that giving more rights to workers could help the Communist Party to achieve its goal of a 'harmonious society.'

   Yet Han is less optimistic about the 700 million Chinese who still depend largely on farming.

   'No matter if it's from the angle of history or the present reality, the issue of Chinese farmers may be more critical than the workers issue,' he said.

   'The farmers were exploited and oppressed, and then they resisted,' he said. 'They sacrificed their lives and created a new despot, ... always such a repetition.'

   'Now in reality, the farmers still face the repetition of history,' Han said. 'The farmers' land is being taken away by corrupt local officials.'

   'There is a strong explosive potential,' he said. '... The dissatisfaction, the anger is very severe.'