China's economic downturn leads to increased worker protests and strikes - Sensationalist Headlines

On Christmas eve, a group of construction workers stood on the edge of the roof of their former employer's building in Times Square in southern Dongguan City in a dramatic demand for nearly $20,000 in unpaid wages. The construction company owner had disappeared, and the workers were desperate to receive their "hard-earned money". One of the workers posted an appeal on Chinese social media platform Weibo saying they had exhausted all means of finding him and receiving their wages. "It [hasn't worked] at all after more than two weeks of efforts … Please give us migrant workers a way to survive." As China's economy slows, labour workers are increasingly under threat of unemployment and lost wages. And as low-income families struggle to survive, worker protests and strikes have increased across the country. Chinese leaders see labour unrest as a potential political threat and are particularly sensitive to demonstrations this year, as it is the 30th anniversary of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square. Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping also warned his senior members of the Communist Party to be on high alert for "black swans" and "grey rhinos" — phrases pertaining to extreme unforeseen events — in the face of a slowing economy. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-16/workers-protests-on-the-rise-as-chinas-economy-slows/10793204

hard to see how this doesn't make the country shittier. People protesting don't usually remain protesting in china.

I'm surprised these protests even had a chance to begin in the first place. My straight self wonders how long they will last.

What does your gay self wonder?

Give it less than a week. We may not even hear about what actually happens to protesters.

This is an unfortunate flaw of P. Rep. China. If the CCP fails to deliver economic dividends, the people will get really pissed, real fast. And sure they'll get curbed by the authorities, but if this trend grows it could spill over into something worse.

Hopefully this spirals down into the common masses getting pissed off enough to revolt and install a government that doesn't make a hobby out of committing crimes against humanity. With China I know something like that would definitely not be bloodless at all but it needs to happen one way or another.

I'm honestly hopeful that one day, the current regime in China will collapse or be thrown out, and democracy will replace it.

all that survalence and the lifelong tenure of Xi are pretty dependant on a passive population. An economic downturn for china could be very bad but it might reset their priorities, then again look at how russia has capitalized on its collapsed economy....

uh oh

they're all gonna disappear tomarrrow

would be nice to see the communist party actually try to work towards communism instead of the weird fascism with communist iconography they're doing now

I hope the best for them, but they need extreme luck to not be dealt with like every other protesters.

china's province system works to the same degree states do its just they need to shrink the provinces to account for their population changes. An economic downturn might actually put a stop to their plan to force all the farmers and rural folk off the farms and into cities, which was all about controlling the masses anyways

Xi Jinping's power rests solely on China's economy not coming to a halt. And not just him, the entire Communist party too. They have been promising economic advancement for a long time now and delivering on their promise - which is how they stay in power. Xi Jinping rose to power on realizing that China's growth was not sustainable and started on implementing ways to prepare for a slowdown as the country begins its tenuous journey to becoming not only a developed nation, but also a world superpower. The Communist party viewed his policies so necessary that they elevated him to his current position over the country. If the people of China go hungry, they will eat their leaders, and this is what both Xi Jinping and the entire Communist party have been paranoid about for so long. This is why he's so concerned with controlling the internet and censoring free speech, and even shit like comparing him to Winnie the Pooh. The coming recession will determine if China actually becomes a world power or stumbles over itself. Either way, the whole world should be prepared, as both US and China are not looking so hot right now, and the rest of the world economy will ripple from there.