The Five Goats

Image source: Official Mascots of 16th Asian Games Unveil
Official Website of the 16th Asian Games

OPINION

Workers' Rights in China
By GEOFFREY CROTHALL
FROM TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
May 1, 2008

China's Labor Contract Law is one of the most controversial pieces of legislation enacted in China this decade. It provoked a storm of criticism from both the domestic and foreign business community, who now claim it has led to the demise of 10,000 factories in the Pearl River Delta alone since it went into effect on Jan. 1.

The factory closures, in reality, had more to do with rising material and transport costs and China's appreciating currency. However, because the law does give China's workers more rights, it means workers have much firmer legal ground to stand on when seeking redress for violation of their rights. That has implications for companies doing business in China. And how smoothly the law is implemented has implications for Beijing.

In the capital city of southern Guangdong province, home to a large proportion of China's factories, local media reported the number of labor dispute cases filed in the first two months of 2008 equaled the total number of cases filed in Guangzhou in all of 2001: 5,385. This is an acceleration of an already-existing trend. Labor dispute cases have increased on average by nearly 30% a year since the early 1990s to reach 317,000 nationwide by the end of 2006.

This upsurge has presented the Chinese government with a huge problem: lack of resources with which to enforce the law. Inflation-adjusted funding and staffing for arbitration committees and other public redress institutions have barely changed over the last decade. In Guangzhou's central Haizhu district, for example, the arbitration committee's three members of staff work six days a week and hold evening sessions three times a week. The whole of Jiangsu province (a population of about 74 million) did not have a single officially certified occupational injury or illness appraisal center until 2003.

The government has attempted to solve this problem with yet more legislation, the Labor Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, which will go into effect on May 1, but once again the unintended consequences of this new law could be to make matters worse. The newest law will make it easier for employees to seek arbitration and will streamline the time-consuming procedures that currently weigh down labor dispute cases. The law for the first time makes arbitration committee rulings in routine cases legally binding, abolishes the arbitration application fee, and extends the time limit for filing an arbitration case to one year from the current 60 days.

These provisions will work only if arbiters handle those cases in a fair and impartial manner. Arbitration courts are often under the supervision of the same local officials who have an acute interest in the success of the employers against whom workers are complaining. The local governments rely on the companies for tax revenues and employment. Sometimes officials have financial stakes in the companies, too.

To ensure that the new labor legislation is properly enforced, Beijing will not only have to provide far more financial and human resources but also make wide-ranging changes to the system of public redress – something, until now, it has not been willing or able to do.

First, China has to tackle its fear of independent monitoring bodies. Even if Beijing pours money into its arbitration system, there's little evidence that it can keep pace with monitoring the mounting flood of claims. Establishing an independent supervisory system composed of labor unions and NGOs to monitor arbitration committee and court adjudication procedures would help.

Second, China must allow the news media to report labor disputes freely, so that cases in which workers have been denied fair and timely redress can be promptly and accurately brought to public attention. Until now, that's been an anathema to a Party whose grip on power is predicated, in large part, on controlling information flows. But the media can also help the Party manage an increasingly pervasive problem with corruption, by highlighting offenders.

Third, China can tackle the root of the problem directly: the treatment of workers on the factory floor. Until now, the official unions have had little power to collectively bargain better pay and working conditions, even though existing legislation allows them to do so. Making the unions more democratic, accountable and representative would help.

Fourth, China can work to modernize its antiquated household registration system which ties workers to their home town and leads to institutionalized discrimination against migrants. To date, China's arbitration committees have received government funding based on a headcount of permanent urban workers. In cities like Shenzhen, where migrants compose over 70% of the working population, that's a big problem. The central government in Beijing needs to radically overhaul the household registration system to accurately reflect where people live and work if these inequities are to be resolved.

Until Beijing and local governments solve these problems, the new labor laws won't be much help to workers and will continue hitting businesses – and Beijing's dream of creating a "harmonious society" will remain an illusion.

Mr. Crothall is editor of China Labour Bulletin, a nongovernmental organization that promotes workers' rights in China.

China Blue


Recently watched 'China Blue' on Australia Network.

"China Blue takes us inside a blue-jeans factory, where Jasmine and her friends are trying to survive a harsh working environment. But when the factory owner agrees to a deal with his Western client that forces his teenage workers to work around the clock, a confrontation becomes inevitable. Shot clandestinely in China, under difficult conditions, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retail companies don*t want us to see - how the clothes we buy are actually made."

Running Time: 55 mins

Ancestral home

Paternal
(Wuhua County, Meizhou, Guangdong)




My great-grandfather's village is further up the hill and mountain terrain of Changpu. I performed rituals in Deng ancestral temple. A much bigger ceremony takes place annually in Songkou Town, Meixian County.

A case study of successful watershed management in Wuhua County, Guangdong Province, China

Maternal
(Meixian County, Meizhou, Guangdong)



Dusk in Meixian: Mum's name is inscribed on her grandfather's tombstone nearby. The present occupants are descendants of the Gu clan headed by her great-grand uncle and Catholics.



It so happened this article about the ancestral home was published earlier in the year (Meizhou Qiaoxiang Monthly, Feb 2006).

Thanks to cousin Zeng from Guangzhou for taking the photos (and everything else) and Gu Bin for the print.

China rock

In the early 70's 'China rock' was no good, usually pop music coming out from Hong Kong and Taiwan as far as I know (update: A go-go Asian 60's beat). Chinese rock is much better today. 'I have nothing' is considered an early rock tune. Punk rockers are making the news. Someone surnamed Deng heads an indie rock group and the blog found it's way into CDT.

Looks more like stand up guys to me (I can imagine them singing 'Piece of My Own' from the Edgar Broughton Band). Students protest food price hike. Don't blame China over fuel price hike.

I decided to listen to some music genres of the 50's and 60's. Among them was bebop or better known as jazz. There were also a lot of bands around. The period was known as the golden age of lounge music.

A bull in a china shop

Man protecting vase from bull. Fotosearch

A bull in a china shop. "A maladroit hand interfering with a delicate business; one who produces reckless destruction."


Bull in a China Shop. "Diplomacy is the art of discreetly convincing other nations to do things you want them to do by convincing them it’s in their best interests. The deft French have turned diplomacy into an art form, both in foreign and boudoir affairs."

The Bull in the China Shop. "According to Reuters news service, China claims that it has used its one-child policy over the years to “avoid 300 million births” — code words for “abortion.” But China isn’t the big, bad, evil nation you think it is — despite the recent spate of recalls on China-produced goods and that nasty little story about toxic chemicals somehow finding their way into medicinal products and children’s pajamas."

Bull vs. China Shop - Video

"This has got to be the most unexpected outcome I've ever seen. The old saying "he's like a bull in a china shop" is meant to refer to someone who is clumsy. But this myth buster shows we may actually have our understanding backwards."

Mattel apologizes to China over recalls. BEIJING - U.S.-based toy giant Mattel issued an extraordinary apology to China on Friday over the recall of Chinese-made toys, taking the blame for design flaws and saying it had recalled more lead-tainted toys than justified.

On Friday, Debrowski acknowledged that "vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in China's manufacturers."

Lead-tainted toys accounted for only a small percentage of all toys recalled, he said, adding that: "We understand and appreciate deeply the issues that this has caused for the reputation of Chinese manufacturers."

In a statement issued by the company, Mattel said its lead-related recalls were "overly inclusive, including toys that may not have had lead in paint in excess of the U.S. standards.

"The follow-up inspections also confirmed that part of the recalled toys complied with the U.S. standards," the statement said.

Don't bash China - U.S. toy makers are at fault
Posted on 03/09/07 Shih-Fen S. Chen

For years, consumers have been buying Chinese-made products bearing American brands. Many believe that U. S. companies moved their factories to China to enjoy a lower production cost. The mass recalls of Mattel toys reveal a little-known fact - those products are actually made by "ghost manufacturers" in China.

In a typical outsourcing arrangement called Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM), U.S. toy makers design a product, transfer design and production knowledge to subcontractors in China, buy back the final output, and resell it to consumers under their own brand names.

Audio Product Safety and the 'Made in China' Label

Fresh Air from WHYY, September 19, 2007 · Journalist David Barboza covers business and culture in China as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. He joins Terry Gross for a discussion of the recent string of recalls and product-safety scandals coming out of that country.

China bans lead paint on US toy exports

By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press Writer | September 11, 2007

WASHINGTON --China signed an agreement Tuesday to prohibit the use of lead paint on toys exported to the United States. Unveiled at the second joint U.S-China summit on consumer product safety, the pact was negotiated in the wake of the recalls of millions of playthings decorated with paint containing the toxic metal.

China takes aim at foods tainted with illegal and excessive chemicals
Reuters Published: September 3, 2007

BEIJING: China will clamp down on foods tainted with illegal and excessive chemicals as it seeks to quell domestic and foreign alarm about toxins in meat, seafood and vegetables, the country's top agriculture official said.

China's Influence Spreads Around World
By WILLIAM FOREMAN Associated Press Writer
KARRATHA, Australia Sep 2, 2007 (AP)

For nearly three decades, Chinese peasants have left their villages for crowded dormitories and sweaty assembly lines, churning out goods for world markets. Now, China is turning the tables.

Around Dongguan

Pressure driving migrants to suicide By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily) Updated: 2007-09-19 07:30

According to statistics from the Dongguan 120 medical emergency center, 552 people attempted suicide in Dongguan from April to September 10. Seventy percent of them were migrants.

Abortions increase as school starts By Liang Qiwen (China Daily) Updated: 2007-09-20 07:24

Some hospitals in Dongguan, a city in the province, reported two to three times as many abortion requests in the week before the start of new semester, which began on September 1, than during other times of the year. Fridays and Saturdays are usually the busiest days.

This is related to an earlier post about the 70's music genres and how difficult it was to find a little known band's second album. Well, I finally found someone with a similar interest.

30,000 ducks coughed in GZ

Bird flu hits Guangzhou.

Update: A thousand ducks may have died initially. The number grew tenfold in one week. By the time I read about it 30,000 had been culled.

Chinese lessons: "Liang Xiaowen's death illuminates the precarious position many students are placed in each year when they enroll in "summer work" (shuqigong) or "work-study" (qingong jianxue) programmes."

CPC to Amend Party Constitution: Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, Three Represents, Science.

Did you know that Haier sell computers? First I found the expensive ones, with the big boys and then a winning bid among startups from one of Europe's poorest countries .

According to a citation at Answer.com "Cough is an onomatopoeic word in most languages (e.g. kuchen, tosse, tossa, toux)". I guess the Mandarin version ke2 could be considered one.

Rock hits the capital. I wonder what Cui Jian had to rap about.

I registered to add my blog to Chinalyst today.

Canton on the Pearl River Delta

Global warming hits Guangzhou. Get out the ladder.

One for 90 people. Two and a half for each table. + 870

A toymaker down and the rest are fuming.

Young Chinese workers have more money to lend.

Locals know better when it comes to food.

A hyphenated Chinese can be a local and neighbor.

SAR + SEZ

Beijing in my bedroom

I have been flying around: While in Beijing the sightseeing began from the Forbidden City. Zhongnanhai is just below it. The world famous Square is in front. Moving further to the upper right is the Temple of Heaven. Go back across to your left to find the Summer Palaces and Ming Tombs then down to the popular Great Wall at Badaling.

I am also trying out the Firefox browser with an add-on because this doesn't work. I still use it to grab text from my standalone feedreader 2.9. Recent stuff:

China considers cash for clemency
By Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING - Under pressure to reduce its huge number of annual executions as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Summer Games, China is experimenting with commuting death penalties to life sentences in exchange for compensation. But the practice is proving contentious.

China's Green Evolution
Western architects have grand plans for helping China solve its expanding environmental crisis. But the world's dirtiest country already has the power to clean up all on its own
By McKenzie Funk | July 2007

Letter accuses China's party of drift
The 17 signatories, ex-officials and academics, say policies make a mockery of Marxism.
By Mark Magnier, Times Staff Writer
July 18, 2007


BEIJING — A rare open letter signed by 17 former top officials and conservative Marxist scholars ahead of a key party meeting accuses China's top leaders of steering the country in the wrong direction, pandering to foreigners, betraying the workers' revolution and jeopardizing social stability.

This is a brand new headline from my scrapbook: China warns couples that CCTVs may call 911 on PDA

It may not be a good idea to be posing in the bedroom.