>That said, I agree this is still an outrage. Are American unions doing
>anything to develop ties with and provide support for independent Chinese
>unionists? Or are they simply for limiting their access to our market?
>I think the lbo rule-in-development for sanctions applies here perfectly:
>independent chinese unionists have to call for them or they're not
>legitimate.
While I condemned the Cold War-style rhetoric of some union leaders at the PNTR rally last spring, the rally also went out of its way to include speakers who were independent Chinese labor activists who had been jailed for their activities. I actually agree with the LBO rule on sanctions but it only solves so many debates, since where authoritarian repression jails the first sign of resistance, we are still left debating whether the scattered remaining activists, often in exile, count as "legitimate" voices of the people.
At some point, we advocate sanctions to force a country like China to even allow enough unionists to get together and have the collective voice to express exactly what they do want. I agree that we need vigilant debate to make sure that sanctions are not merely an excuse for protectionism or US military policy, but when the US capitalist class is solidly supportive of accelerated free trade with China, it is really hard to argue that union views on China are just extensions of corporate Cold War policy.
What has been clear for the last few years is that, especially in the interior of the country away from the richest provinces, there have been massive layoffs and the suppression of anyone trying to form real unions to fight for those workers.
I kind of feel like the capitalist class has adjusted to the reality of a semi-fascist capitalist China and are diving in to reap the profits, while much of the Left remains under the illusion that China is still a pro-worker socialist regime - much to the pleasure of the capitalist class who thereby cultivate political support for their exploitative profits of the slave and near-slave labor of China.
-- Nathan Newman