Han Dongfang

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Han Dongfang, 2011

Han Dongfang (韩东方, Hán Dōngfāng; * 1963 in Beijing ) is a Chinese labor activist and trade unionist . He has lived in Hong Kong since 1993 and heads the Internet magazine China Labor Bulletin , which reports extensively on the situation of workers in the People's Republic of China .

Life

After finishing school in 1980, Han Dongfang volunteered for the army to follow the example of the soldier Lei Feng, who has been revered as a hero throughout China since 1963 for his self-sacrificing commitment to others and the community . He served in a section of the military police responsible for overseeing prisons in the Beijing area, and was actually honored as a model soldier. Disillusioned by the corruption that was spreading in the army , he increasingly began to question the meaning of his work. His repeated applications for membership of the Chinese Communist Party were denied. Han quit military service in 1984, worked temporarily at a Beijing university library and then at the railroad, where he was trained as an electrician. On April 16, 1989, in Beijing, he accidentally came into contact with students who had just started their demonstration in Tian'anmen Square and learned from them about their democratic demands. Since the students were interested in support from the workforce, Han offered himself as a middleman. Around May 20, he joined the newly formed Beijing Autonomous Workers' Union and was elected its spokesman.

After the violent suppression of the protest movement on June 4, 1989, Han Dongfang left Beijing with the intention of traveling around the country for a while to find out about the situation of workers and peasants. After two weeks, he found that he was being wanted and decided to return to Beijing to voluntarily face the police. He was subsequently held without a court order for 22 months, during which time he developed severe tuberculosis that could not be treated in China. Released on medical grounds, he was able to travel to the United States for treatment in 1992, thanks to support from the AFL-CIO . There he converted to Christianity . In 1993 he tried to return to the People's Republic of China via Hong Kong, but the authorities quickly recognized him and was deported back to Hong Kong. In 1994 he began to publish the China Labor Bulletin (中囯 劳工 通讯Zhongguo laogong tongxun ), which first appeared in print and was converted into an online magazine in 1999. Since March 1997, Han has hosted programs about workers problems in China on Radio Free Asia , which listeners can participate in over the phone. Han Dongfang and his employees offer Chinese workers legal advice on ways to protect their interests.

After Hong Kong was annexed to the People's Republic of China as a special administrative region as a special administrative region in 1997 after the lease contract expired and Han was thus naturalized again, the Chinese central government increasingly recognized the urgency of the problems he had publicized and repeatedly returned him to mainland China offered. So far, he has not taken advantage of this opportunity, but has noticed that the Chinese authorities are increasingly interested in cooperation. Especially since Hu Jintao took office as General Secretary of the CCP and President (2002/2003), the political leadership of the People's Republic has placed emphasis on social stability and improving the economic and legal situation of workers and farmers in order to put a stop to growing unrest. Han's radio broadcasts are being listened to not only by millions of workers and farmers, but also by government employees, who receive information about conflicts that are insufficiently represented in the Chinese media.

Political positions

Han Dongfang recommends his compatriots to act peacefully within the framework of the laws of the People's Republic of China and to expand the legal options for action in order to enforce claims that exist on paper, but in practice often ignored (minimum wages, occupational health and safety regulations, etc.) and the legal creation of an independent trade union movement to enable: “My dream is a system that enables workers and entrepreneurs to negotiate with one another. Independent trade unions will then come of their own accord. ”He sees a need for action in particular with regard to the organization of workers in foreign-owned companies in the private sector. First and foremost, he calls on the Chinese government to enter into an open dialogue with workers and farmers. He does not consider himself a " dissident " and distances himself from intellectuals who only want to use the dissatisfaction of workers as a means to come to power themselves, who defend themselves against demands for workers' democracy and the closure of state-owned companies with the "laziness" of Justify workers.

Han Dongfang demands of the international community:

  • "that the western countries, which have great influence in the WTO, promote the protection of human rights in the world, not only in China, by advocating the inclusion of a social clause based on internationally recognized workers' rights in the treaties", and
  • "If your legal system and your social order allow, the government, public organizations, trade unions, media, etc. should influence transnational corporations to develop codes of conduct for investment."

Awards

Han Dongfang was awarded

literature

  • A Single Spark ..., Far Eastern Economic Review September 2, 1993 (about Hans expulsion from the PR China)
  • Hans-Heinrich Bass , Markus Wauschkuhn, Karl Wohlmuth : Human rights, employment relationships and trade unions in China - international perspectives. published on the occasion of the award of the 5th Bremen Solidarity Prize to Han Dongfang. (= Reports from the China Research division at the Institute for World Economy and International Management at the University of Bremen. No. 6). 1996, ISSN  0947-7977 . (includes the laudation by Dieter Schulte as well as a biography of Han Dongfang and an interview with him in German translation)

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Andreas Lorenz: We want the truth. In: Der Spiegel . 23/2009, pp. 96-97 (May 30, 2009), here p. 97.
  2. ↑ Interview with Han Dongfang, In: Hans-Heinrich Bass, Markus Wauschkuhn, Karl Wohlmuth: Human rights, employment relationships and trade unions in China - international perspectives. published on the occasion of the award of the 5th Bremen Solidarity Prize to Han Dongfang. (= Reports from the China Research Division in the Institute for World Economy and International Management at the University of Bremen, No. 6). 1996, ISSN  0947-7977 , p. 61.
  3. ^ Hans-Heinrich Bass, Markus Wauschkuhn, Karl Wohlmuth: Human rights, employment relationships and trade unions in China - international perspectives. published on the occasion of the award of the 5th Bremen Solidarity Prize to Han Dongfang. (= Reports from the China Research division at the Institute for World Economy and International Management at the University of Bremen. No. 6). 1996, ISSN  0947-7977 .
personal data
SURNAME Han Dongfang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese labor activist and trade unionist
DATE OF BIRTH 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Beijing