The global economic crisis has prompted several Chinese officials to make short-sighted and reckless comments. In November 2008, the Guangdong union federation announced it would suspend collective bargaining in enterprises experiencing difficulties. And in January, that province’s procuratorate said it would go easy on bosses who committed 'ordinary' crimes. However no comments have been more potentially damaging or retrograde than the assertion made by ACFTU Vice-Chair Sun Chunlan on 17 February that: 'We need to keep a close lookout for foreign and domestic hostile forces using the difficulties encountered by some companies to infiltrate and undermine the ranks of migrant workers.'
China Labour Bulletin’s Cai Chongguo, in an editorial on CLB`s Chinese website, explains that Sun’s comments have already harmed the new spirit of social dialogue that emerged in China last year. If adhered to, her comments could seriously erode workers’ rights and interests, further degrade the ACFTU, and impede the work of labour lawyers, journalists and non-governmental organizations. Thankfully, as far as we can tell, the specific comment about hostile forces has not been repeated in any other ACFTU speech since 17 February, perhaps signifying that the leadership now realizes that Sun over-stepped the mark.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/100404
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