编辑手记：不要让劳动者的声音湮灭 ——中国劳工通讯被迫关闭，民间档案馆紧急收藏其系列报告

Editors’ Note: Don’t Let Workers’ Voices Be Silenced — China Labour Bulletin Forced to Close; China Unofficial Archives Now Offers Its Reports

中国劳工通讯创始人韩东方。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons.

The English translation follows below.

2025年6月12日，总部位于香港的中国劳工通讯（China Labour Bulletin）突然宣布“因资金与负债问题而关闭”。同一天，香港政府新闻处发布消息称，警方查处“六人和一个组织”，称其涉嫌“勾结境外势力危害国家安全”。据报道，这也是俗称23条的国家安全条例附例生效一个多月后，香港警方公开配合中国驻港国安公署的首次执法。

目前虽不能确定中国劳工通讯的关闭是否受此次查处影响，但可以确信的是，这家已经运行31年、致力于维护中国工人权益的非政府组织，在当下的香港，早已举步维艰，处境岌岌可危。

中国劳工通讯成立于1994年，其创始人韩东方的经历颇具传奇色彩。韩东方曾经参加解放军，并因目睹了军队的不平等，而埋下了民主思想的种子。1984年，韩东方成为北京铁路局的一名电工。1989年，天安门学生运动爆发后，韩东方参与组建北京工人自治会（后被称为工自联）。工自联成为当时第一个非官方的独立工会，也是天安门广场上支持学生运动的一股力量。

天安门民主运动被镇压之后，工自联被认定为非法组织，作为工人领袖的韩东方被全国通缉。韩东方自首后，未经审判，被关押22个月。1991年，他因严重的肺结核病，取保就医，前往美国治疗。1993年，他从美国返回广州，但很快就被再次抓捕，并被遣送出境。在那之后，韩东方辗转留在了香港，并于1994年创办了中国劳工通讯。

中国劳工通讯专注于中国工人的维权，并长期聚焦于中国工人的集体行动。外界一般认为中国很少爆发工人的抗议，工会被官方掌握，往往形同虚设，但中国劳工通讯一直以来以信息传播、行动支持等方式，关注中国劳动者的生存状况，并且利用中国体制内的现有程序，维护中国工人的合法权益。

2002年，中国劳工通讯建立了一个劳工权利的诉讼项目，帮助中国工人通过现有的司法系统维权，为工人提供法律咨询和服务。这些案件涉及拖欠工资、工伤、就业歧视等问题。2005年，该机构发起促进工人集体谈判，并支持工人与资方签署集体劳动合同的项目。

2011年开设的中国劳工通讯网，持续发布中国和其它国家工人的资讯和行动经验。除了日常的报道和信息之外，该网站也发布深度报告。这些报告涉及中国劳工权益领域最值得关注的议题，基于具体的田野调查，深入行业以及产业链，记录中国劳工的处境，往往长达数万字。近年来中国劳工通讯发布的报告涵盖的群体包括建筑行业、医护人员、广东东莞女工、外卖骑手等等。这些报告，也涉及中国劳工在海外的状况，例如在新加坡的中国工人、在日本的中国研修生工作权益等等。

这些报告除了提供中英文版本，有一些还同时提供法语、德语、意大利语的版本。

近年来，中国的言论管控愈加严厉，而经济状况下行，工人的真正处境难以被外界所知，但中国劳工通讯依然坚持发布调研报告。其被关闭之前的网站显示，最新的两份报告分别于2024年七月和八月发布。其中一份是“比亚迪工人超时工作报告”。比亚迪公司是中国政府扶持的电动汽车公司，也是全世界最大的电动汽车企业，其劳工人数非常巨大。这个报告分为六大部分，调查了比亚迪在中国的四大工厂的超时工作问题，揭示了中国电动汽车行业工人的权益问题。

这些报告还包括2000年以来的系列“中国工人运动观察报告”。中国劳工通讯也记录每年中国各地出现的工人抗争，包括各种规模的罢工，其中包括2023年记录的1789起和2024年记录的1508起。这些抗争的记录被制作成“罢工地图”，并在网站上保存，例如今年初发生在山东邹城的公交车司机罢工。

这些关于中国当代工人权益的报告非常重要，但是，2025年6月12日，在中国劳工通讯宣布关闭机构的几乎同时，中国劳工通讯网站也被关闭，所有内容已经不能再显示。

此外，韩东方于1998年在自由亚洲电台（RFA）创建“劳工通讯”栏目，并担任主持人，每周进行普通话广播，聚焦于各地工会交涉与工人维权。2025年3月21日，自由亚洲电台因美国当局的政策改变而基本停止运营，“劳工通讯”这一节目的更新也停留在了3月19日，至今没有再更新。

中国民间档案馆一直以打捞被官方叙事控制、被权力打压的声音为己任，所以在第一时间下载了这些报告，在民间档案馆留存，提供给关注中国工人处境的各方面人士。本馆首次收集的中国劳工通讯中文报告大约40余个，大部分有英文版本。请读者登陆民间档案馆网站，点击“进入收藏”的链接查看。

本期推荐档案：

中国劳工通讯：中国劳工权益保障研究系列报告

中国劳工通讯：中国工人运动系列报告

中国劳工通讯：工会改革观察系列报告

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China Labour Bulletin’s founder, Han Dongfang. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Editors’ Note: Don’t Let Workers’ Voices Be Silenced — China Labour Bulletin Forced to Close; China Unofficial Archives Now Offers Its Reports

On June 12, 2025, the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin (CLB) suddenly announced its closure, citing "funding and debt issues." That same day, the Hong Kong Government Information Services Department reported that police had investigated “six individuals and one organization” for allegedly “colluding with external forces to endanger national security.” According to reports, this was the first public enforcement action by Hong Kong police in cooperation with the Chinese national security office in Hong Kong, occurring just over a month after the implementation of the National Security Law (commonly known as Article 23) subsidiary legislation.

While it’s currently unclear if CLB’s closure was caused by this investigation, it’s certain that CLB, which has dedicated 31 years to defending the rights of Chinese workers, had long faced significant difficulties and was in a precarious position in Hong Kong.

The China Labour Bulletin was founded in 1994 by Han Dongfang. Han once served in the People’s Liberation Army, where witnessing inequality sowed the seeds of democratic ideals in him. In 1984, he became an electrician at the Beijing Railway Bureau. In 1989, following the Tiananmen student movement, Han helped establish the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation. This federation became the first unofficial independent trade union at the time and a robust force supporting the student movement in Tiananmen Square.

After the suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the Workers’ Autonomous Federation was declared an illegal organization, and Han, as a prominent labor leader, became a nationally wanted figure. After surrendering, he was detained for 22 months without trial. In 1991, due to severe tuberculosis, he was released on bail for medical treatment and traveled to the United States. In 1993, he returned from the U.S. to Guangzhou but was quickly re-arrested and deported. Subsequently, Han settled in Hong Kong, where he founded the China Labour Bulletin in 1994.

The China Labour Bulletin focused on advocating for Chinese workers' rights and consistently highlighted their collective actions. While it’s generally believed that worker protests are rare in China and that official unions are often ineffective, CLB continuously monitored the living conditions of Chinese laborers through information dissemination and direct support. It also utilized existing procedures within the Chinese system to protect workers’ rights.

In 2002, CLB established a labor rights litigation project, assisting Chinese workers in defending their rights through the existing judicial system by providing legal consultations and services. These cases addressed issues such as wage arrears, work-related injuries, and employment discrimination. In 2005, the organization launched a project to promote workers’ collective bargaining and supported them in signing collective labor contracts with employers.

The China Labour Bulletin website, launched in 2011, regularly published information and shared experiences of workers in China and other countries. Beyond daily reports and news, the website also released in-depth reports. These reports covered critical issues in Chinese labor rights, drawing on specific fieldwork to delve into industries and supply chains. They meticulously documented the circumstances of Chinese laborers and often spanned tens of thousands of words. In recent years, CLB’s reports have covered groups including construction workers, healthcare professionals, female migrant workers in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and food delivery riders. These reports also addressed the conditions of Chinese laborers overseas, such as Chinese workers in Singapore and the labor rights of Chinese technical interns in Japan.

These reports were available in both Chinese and English, with some also offered in French, German, and Italian.

In recent years, as social control in China has tightened and the economy has slowed, the true plight of workers has become increasingly difficult for outsiders to grasp. Despite this, the China Labour Bulletin persisted in publishing its research reports. The website, before its closure, showed that its two most recent reports were published in July and August 2024. One of these was the “BYD Workers Overtime Report.” BYD, a Chinese government-backed electric vehicle company and the world’s largest, employs a massive workforce. This six-part report investigated widespread overtime issues at four major BYD factories in China, exposing significant labor rights concerns within the Chinese electric vehicle industry.

CLB’s reports also included a series of “Observations on the Chinese Workers’ Movement” dating back to 2000. The China Labour Bulletin also documented worker protests across China each year, including strikes of various sizes, with 1,789 recorded in 2023 and 1,508 in 2024. These protest records were compiled into a “Strike Map” and preserved, such as the bus drivers' strike in Zouchang, Shandong, earlier this year.

These reports on contemporary Chinese workers’ rights are incredibly important. However, on June 12, 2025, almost immediately after the China Labour Bulletin announced its closure, its website was also taken down, making all content inaccessible.

Furthermore, in 1998, Han Dongfang created and hosted the “Labor Bulletin” segment on Radio Free Asia (RFA), broadcasting weekly in Mandarin and focusing on union activities and workers’ rights defense across various regions. On March 21, 2025, Radio Free Asia largely ceased operations due to changes in U.S. government policy. Consequently, updates to the “Labor Bulletin” program also stopped on March 19 and have not resumed since.

The China Unofficial Archives has always committed itself to preserving voices that are controlled by official narratives or suppressed by power. Therefore, we at the China Unofficial Archives immediately downloaded these reports, preserving them within its archives to make them available to all those concerned about the plight of Chinese workers. The Archives’ initial collection has nearly 40 Chinese reports from the China Labour Bulletin, most of which also have English versions. Readers are invited to visit the China Unofficial Archives website and access them through the “Explore” page.

Recommended archives:

China Labour Bulletin Report Series on Labor Rights Protection in China

China Labour Bulletin Report Series on Workers' Movement

China Labour Bulletin Report Series on Trade Union Reform