Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - REPORT_NO321, June 2000

1. 140. In a communication dated 4 June 1999, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) presented a complaint of violations of freedom of association against the Government of China.
2. 141. The Government furnished its observations in a communication dated 6 March 2000.
3. 142. China has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainant's allegations

1. 143. In its complaint dated 4 June 1999, the ICFTU alleges that the Chinese authorities continue to suppress, in law and in practice, any attempt by workers to join or establish independent workers' organizations of any kind including: (i) trade union groups trying to organize outside the government-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions; (ii) groups and individuals attempting to protect laid-off workers or assist them in demanding the payment of wage arrears or the refund of their enterprises' funds after these had been embezzled by members of the management; or (iii) in general, any other groups of workers attempting to defend, promote and protect workers' rights, in particular, their right to organize freely and independently of the public authorities.
2. 144. The ICFTU states that the incidents it is about to describe demonstrate that the Chinese authorities have recently targeted those individuals and groups of workers who have attempted to protect and defend the rights of retrenched workers. According to the ICFTU, the economic reforms developed in the last decade by the Government have exacted a heavy toll in terms of employment on China's working class. Dozens of millions have been retrenched, 6 million in 1998 alone, as shown by official data. In fact, many scholars say China's actual jobless rate could be far higher if the tens of millions of surplus labourers in rural areas and workers who were idle but registered as employed were taken into consideration. Seven more million workers should lose their employment in 1999, by the Government's own admission. In these circumstances, the authorities have issued and continue to regularly issue calls for social and political stability. Indeed, on 1 May 1999, International Labour Day, China's Vice-President, Mr. Hu Jintao, called on workers throughout the country to "take on a sense of personal responsibility for the reforms and to maintain social and political stability". In a message to workers on the front page of the People's Daily on 30 April 1999, Mr. Hu, a member of the country's key political decision-making body, the Standing Committee of the Communist Party Politburo, said: "without stability nothing can be achieved and successes already attained will be lost", adding that "the great workers must wholeheartedly cherish the nation's political stability and unity".
3. 145. The ICFTU asserts that while ensuring social stability may certainly be considered as a legitimate policy objective for any democratic government, the fact is that, translated into Chinese present-day conditions, this overriding priority of the Government translates, inter alia, into numerous arrests, long prison sentences and dispersion of entirely legitimate workers' demonstrations and protests, especially when these concern the non-payment of wages arrears or the embezzlement of enterprise funds, which often leads to bankruptcy and the consequent mass lay-off of staff without compensation.
4. 146. Hence, on 16 January 1998, the authorities of Factory 813 of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation in Hanzhong, a city in northern Shaanxi Province, put their worker Zhao Changqing under house arrest to stop him standing for elections to a local People's Congress. These congresses form a layer of grass-roots democracy in China. In the run-up to the elections, factory officials seized Zhao's campaign flyers and accused him of challenging the Communist Party. In fact, it was widely known amongst Zhao's colleagues that he intended to use the electoral campaign as a platform to publicly denounce embezzlement of enterprise funds and non-payment of wage arrears, both of which were common around the region. Zhao had been jailed for six months for his role in student-led demonstrations for democracy in Beijing that were crushed by the army with heavy loss of life in June 1989.
5. 147. Moreover, on 16 January 1998, an unemployed worker who had demanded independent labour unions was taken into custody in Shaanxi Province. About ten policemen detained Li Qingxi, a 41 year-old unemployed worker who had called for free trade unions. Police also searched Li's house and seized documents and a videotape. The ICFTU states that it has strong reasons to believe the material in question dealt with workers' rights and other labour-related issues. Li, who had been laid off from his job as a health worker in a clinic attached to the Datong City Coal Mine Administration four years earlier, had criticized existing labour unions as mere "puppets" of the Government. He has pasted up flyers calling for independent labour unions to "prevent corruption and social contradiction". He was sentenced to one year of re-education through labour.
6. 148. The same week, a veteran dissident, Qin Yongmie, who had issued a nationwide appeal for independent labour unions, rejected an offer by the authorities to leave the country that week, saying he feared he would not be allowed to return. The ICFTU believes that his fear was closely related to the situation faced for years now by Han Dong-fang, the veteran independent trade union leader and workers' rights campaigner, who has lived for years in Hong Kong, owing to the authorities' continuous refusal to allow him back into China, from where he was banned after seeking treatment in the United States for tuberculosis contracted in jail.
7. 149. On 21 July 1998, the authorities detained Zhang Shanguang, another worker who had tried to establish an independent trade union organization. Like many other such initiatives, his aim was, inter alia, to protect the rights of his retrenched colleagues. In this context, he had transmitted information about laid-off workers' protests in his region to foreign journalists and been interviewed on the subject. Accused of "supplying intelligence to foreign organizations", he was sentenced on 27 December 1998 to ten years' imprisonment with forced labour. The ICFTU considers that Zhang's sentence is directly connected to his attempt to set up the Shupu County Association for the Rights of Laid-Off Workers. Furthermore, the ICFTU finds it shocking that, during an interrogation on 6 August 1998, Zhang was severely beaten by members of a police-appointed militia because he allegedly failed to respond to questions. He is 45 and dangerously ill with tuberculosis. The ICFTU is of the view, based on its past experience with China's detained labour activists, that Zhang may now be kept in prison for years with his medical condition deteriorating for lack of medical treatment, until he is either released at the end of his term, if he survives, or is released prematurely on medical grounds and following intense diplomatic and international political pressure.
8. 150. The ICFTU goes on to explain that some days after Zhang's arrest, the authorities detained Jin Jiwu, Li Yingzhi and Song Ge. All were taken from Jin's home in Xiangtan City, in southern China's Hunan Province. Police also searched Jin's home and took away his computer and books, including contact books. The three were detained while discussing plans to press for the release of Zhang Shanguang, who had invited Jin to join his association. The three detained met on 11 July to discuss topical political and labour issues and protection for laid-off workers.
9. 151. The ICFTU contends that it is not surprising, in such a climate of repression, that workers are ill-treated, beaten, and often arrested. Hence, at least ten workers were injured, including four seriously, on 21 October 1998, while mounting a peaceful protest along a railway line in China's Sichuan Province to demand unpaid salaries. They had peacefully occupied a station along the Baocheng railway line for four hours, disrupting at least ten trains. (The Baocheng railway, which stretches from Chengdu in Sichuan Province to Baoji in Shaanxi Province, is the most important railway in south-western China, according to ICFTU sources.) Scuffles broke out when over 100 police officers used force to disperse the approximately 500 protesting workers from the state-owned Peijiang Iron and Steel Factory in Jiangyou town. The workers were owed three months' pay. Most of the protesters were laid-off workers, while the rest were still working for the factory, which was by then bankrupt. Police in Sichuan confirmed that the protest had taken place, but refused to give a figure for the number of people injured in the clash.
10. 152. The ICFTU points out that in 1999, the repression has continued unabated, and that it has already been informed of several cases of detention of labour activists and/or workers advocating workers' rights and raising workers' grievances. For example, on 4 January 1999, police detained more than 100 retired factory workers, severely beating some, when they demonstrated in the central industrial city of Wuhan. Police swooped on the elderly workers ten minutes after they gathered to protest that they had not received their 150 yuan ($18) monthly pensions from Wuhan Qintai furniture plant. More than 200 police moved in to crush the demonstration, with each protester taken away by two riot policemen. More than ten retired workers resisted the police and were severely beaten, including a 70 year-old who was knocked unconscious. Observers pointed out that the crackdown contrasted with the handling of other protests, which had ended peacefully after local government officials had promised that back wages and pensions would be paid. An ICFTU source indicated that the tough stance shown by the Wuhan police was "clearly connected" with two hard-line speeches in December 1998 by President Jiang Zemin, who ordered that all sources of instability be "nipped in the bud", in a speech widely reported by both the Chinese and international press.
11. 153. Moreover, on 11 January 1999, the authorities detained Yue Tianxiang, an independent labour rights activist from Tianshui City, in the north-western Gansu Province. Some days before, on 4 January 1999, he had opposed a government ban on "politically" sensitive printed materials and begun publishing a magazine advocating workers' rights. As in similar cases, he had used the inaugural issue of his publication, China Workers Observer, to uncover corruption and other staff grievances at his state-owned transport company, where workers had not been paid, some for up to three years. Earlier, Yue had also organized legal action to force a payment of wage arrears to laid-off and employed workers from the company in question, the Tianshui City Auto Transport Company. According to the Chinese state media, Yue went on trial before the Tianshui Intermediate People's Court on 28 May 1999, together with two workers arrested in this case: Guo Xinmin, a colleague of Yue, and Wang Fengshan, who reportedly acted as an adviser to the other two. If convicted under the charges which they face, i.e. "leading a subversive group", the three could be sentenced to ten years or more in prison. They reportedly stand accused of subverting state power by setting up their group to protect workers' rights, of organizing protests by laid-off workers and of receiving US$400 from an unidentified US-based organization. They have also been accused of having contacts with "enemy" organizations in Hong Kong and the United States, and the ICFTU suspects that the former one may be the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, edited by Han Dong-fang. According to the ICFTU, even as their firm accumulated losses of $6.8 million in three years and stopped paying unemployment benefits, executives bought themselves apartments and spent $65,000 on entertainment, including a tourism trip to the south-eastern city of Guangzhou.
12. 154. The ICFTU stresses that the trial came as authorities stepped up detentions and surveillance of dissidents to prevent public commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the military assault that ended the Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Independently of the Tiananmen anniversary, however, the ICFTU points out that the charges against the three abovementioned labour rights organizers are among the stiffest used against dissidents and democracy activists. To the ICFTU, this clearly indicates the extent of the authorities' fear in the face of growing workers' protests at corruption, embezzlement, non-payment of wages and massive lay-offs. The ICFTU believes that the incidents described above are quite indicative of the general climate prevailing in workers' communities throughout China. According to numerous sources, including several official media, most of the demonstrations staged by workers and farmers last year, numbering at least 60,000, were related to corruption of officials and the dramatic difficulties faced by workers as a result thereof.
13. 155. Finally, the ICFTU contends that on 18 March 1999, police injured ten workers in a scuffle with demonstrators demanding unemployment compensation. The incident erupted after some 200 coalminers, in the south-western city of Chengdu, refused to follow the police order to relocate their protest to another venue. The protesters were among an estimated 3,000 workers who were laid off earlier on in the year when the coalmine they had worked for was shut. Many had not received compensation. According to the ICFTU, the compensation fund issued by the State to the protesters had been siphoned off by officials. About 200 victims had been protesting outside the municipal government office since 15 March, and the demonstration had continued on 18 March, under the surveillance of a strengthened police force of approximately 100 officers.

B. The Government's reply

1. 156. In a communication dated 6 March 2000, the Government states that the complaint presented by the ICFTU alleging that the Chinese Government violated the principle of freedom of association is completely unjustified. However, the Government, in a sincere attempt to cooperate fully with the ILO, undertook in-depth inquiries, in respect of the issues raised in the complaint, with the Ministries of Public Security and Justice as well as with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the departments concerned of the Provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan and Hunan. According to the information received by the Government, the ICFTU's allegations are unfounded and constitute a distortion of the reality. For example, the complainant alleges that the Chinese authorities are often late in paying the wages of workers as well as the pensions of retired workers, that laid-off workers do not receive any compensation and that workers who demonstrate against the non-payment of wage arrears or pensions are often ill-treated, beaten or arrested. According to the Government, such an accusation does not correspond to the reality and illustrates that the complainant is ignorant of the measures that are currently being adopted in China to resolve these problems.
2. 157. The Government then goes on to describe in detail how the standard of living has risen significantly and how the fundamental rights of workers and their working conditions have improved considerably over the last 20 years in China. Moreover, there has been considerable progress in the development of democracy and legislation in China. At the same time, the Government has improved the social security system covering the areas of retirement, medical care and unemployment insurance - through a variety of schemes - thereby providing workers with greater employment opportunities and fundamental social safeguards. The implementation of various policy measures has fully guaranteed the fundamental living conditions of laid-off workers as well as unemployed and retired persons; hence, workers, and specifically the abovementioned workers, fully understand and support the Government in this regard. Thus, while there were a total of 11,900,000 laid-off workers in 1999, some were able to find new jobs and, as a result, there were only 6,500,000 laid-off workers at the end of 1999, 90 per cent of whom had their everyday subsistence costs covered by the Government. Moreover, from the second half of 1999, the authorities increased the wages of low-income citizens. As a result, the 6,500,000 laid-off workers, 800,000 unemployed workers and 27,000,000 retired persons saw an increase in their income. The Government indicates nevertheless that in spite of the enormous efforts it has undertaken, unexpected problems do inevitably occur given that the country's level of economic development is not high and that the social security system is still being developed and is in a transitional phase. However, the Government attaches a great deal of importance to such incidents and always attempts to find a way to resolve them adequately and in a timely manner. Hence, incidents such as arrests, beatings and forced dispersions of workers as alleged in the complaint simply do not occur.
3. 158. With regard to the allegation that the Chinese authorities continue to suppress any attempt by workers to join or establish independent workers' organizations of any kind, including groups of workers who attempt to defend and protect workers' rights freely and independently of the public authorities, the Government stresses the importance that it attaches to the protection of the democratic rights of its citizens, including freedom of association, and reaffirms that the civil and political rights of the Chinese people are effectively guaranteed by law. First of all, according to article 35 of the Constitution, citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration. Moreover, section 7 of the Trade Union Act stipulates that workers shall have the right, by virtue of the law, to form and join trade unions, and trade union representatives shall defend the workers' rights and interests and shall carry out activities independently by virtue of the law. Finally, section 3 of the Trade Union Act provides that "all persons engaged in manual or intellectual work and employed by an enterprise, an institution or an office in Chinese territory, and who are primarily wage earners, have the right to form and join trade unions, in conformity with the law, regardless of their ethnic status, their race, sex, occupation, religious beliefs or level of education". According to the Government, all these provisions prove that the right of workers to form and join organizations of their choice is guaranteed in full. Concretely, as of the end of 1998, there were already 165,600 social organizations established in China.
4. 159. The Government points out nevertheless that as is the case in other countries, when Chinese citizens exercise their right to freedom of association, they must respect the laws and regulations of the State. Moreover, Article 8 of Convention No. 87 provides expressly that in exercising the rights provided in the Convention workers and employers and their respective organizations, like other persons or organized collectivities, shall respect the law of the land. In the Government's view, if the activities of certain citizens, including workers and their organizations are contrary to the laws and regulations of the State, they are naturally punished by virtue of the law. It is extremely dangerous and misleading to consider violations of the law as violations of freedom of association. According to the inquiry undertaken by the Government, the persons mentioned in the complaint all violated the laws of the land. Hence, it is not a problem of violations of freedom of association but of infringements of the ordinary law.
5. 160. The Government then indicates that the results of the inquiries undertaken in respect of the persons and events mentioned in the complaint are as follows. Zhao Changqing was sentenced in January 1998 to three years' imprisonment for his subversive activities endangering national sovereignty and state security. Li Qingxi has already been released after serving his sentence of re-education through labour. Qin Yongmei was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for subversion against national sovereignty and endangering state security; he is currently in detention. Zhang Shanguang was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the crime of providing information to organizations outside China; he is currently in detention. Jin Jiwu, Li Yingzhi and Song Ge were all released after re-education and a warning. Yue Tianxing, Guo Xinmin and Wang Fengshan were sentenced respectively to ten years, two years and one year in prison for their subversive activities against national sovereignty and state security.
6. 161. Turning to the allegation that police used force to disperse protesting workers from the Peijiang Iron and Steel Factory in Jiangyou town in Sichuan Province who were demanding unpaid salaries, the Government responds that this was an unexpected incident which has been exaggerated to a certain degree in the complaint and which was caused by the factory's bankruptcy. Since the enterprise was unable to pay its debts for a number of years, it was declared bankrupt by the People's Court. Subsequently, the Government was able to resolve the problem adequately in accordance with certain state regulations by providing support to the unemployed and by covering the basic living expenses of those still working for the factory.
7. 162. The Government then addresses the allegation that on 4 January 1999, the police in Wuhan detained around 100 retired factory workers who were demonstrating against the non-payment of their pensions and then severely beat up some of these workers. According to the investigation carried out by the Government, however, on 5 January 1999, around 30 employees and retired workers from the former Qintai furniture factory in the city of Wuhan took part in a sit-in on the Hanjiang Boulevard to demonstrate against the takeover of their factory by a private company. The town's security forces arrived immediately and persuaded the protestors to return to their factory without any force being used by the police on the demonstrators. After this incident and due to the efforts made by various actors, the workers' fears were allayed; their factory was successfully taken over in June 1999 and adequate arrangements were made for them.
8. 163. Finally, the Government turns to the allegation that on 18 March 1999, violent incidents occurred between the police and demonstrators who were demanding unemployment compensation, and that the police injured ten protestors. According to the government investigation, the Dujiang mine in the city of Chengdu was an old enterprise set up in 1939. After 60 years of operation, it faced a shortage of resources. In July 1998, it had applied for bankruptcy after having obtained the approval of the council of its employees' representatives. On 18 March 1999, some of its employees took part in a sit-in in front of the Chengdu government offices to demonstrate against the application for bankruptcy and to demand early retirement in contravention of the regulations in force governing this issue. Since the municipal authorities attached great importance to this case, they expedited officials from the Ministry of Labour, the coalmining industry and others in an attempt to persuade the workers. These officials managed to bring the demonstrators back to their enterprise without giving rise to violent incidents and no one was injured. Subsequently, the regulations governing early retirement were explained to the workers, and the problems which were of concern to the workers relating to the bankruptcy were resolved. On 22 September 1999, this mine was declared bankrupt by decision of the Chengdu People's Court of Second Instance; adequate arrangements were made for some 2,400 workers.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 164. The Committee notes that this case addresses serious allegations of violations of freedom of association concerning the detention and imprisonment of labour activists for attempts to establish independent workers' organizations or for their attempts to carry out legitimate activities to defend the occupational interests of workers. The allegations also relate to the physical assaults of workers and forced dispersions of workers protesting against their conditions of employment.
2. 165. As regards the complainant's general allegation that the Chinese authorities continue to suppress any attempt by workers to join or establish independent workers' organizations of any kind, including groups of workers attempting to defend and protect workers' rights freely and independently of the public authorities, the Committee observes that the Government stresses the importance that it attaches to the protection of the democratic rights of its citizens, including the right of freedom of association. The Government then goes on to cite certain provisions of its Constitution and its Trade Union Act that according to it fully guarantee the right of workers to form and join organizations of their choice. In this regard, the Committee must recall that during its examination of two previous complaints presented against the Government of China (see 286th Report (Case No. 1652) and 310th Report (Case No. 1930)), the Committee had concluded that the obligations set forth in sections 5, 8 and 9 of the Trade Union Act prevented the establishment of trade union organizations that were independent of the public authorities and of the ruling party, whose mission should be to defend and promote interests of their constituents and not to reinforce the country's political and economic system. The Committee had further noted that sections 4, 11 and 13 resulted in the imposition of a trade union monopoly and that the requirement that grass-roots organizations be controlled by higher-level trade unions and that their constitutions should be established by the National Congress of Trade Union Members constituted major constraints on the right of unions to establish their own constitutions, organize their activities and formulate programmes (see 286th Report, paras. 713-717). Consequently, the Committee had concluded that many provisions of the Trade Union Act were contrary to the fundamental principles of freedom of association and had requested the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the provisions in question were modified (see 286th Report, para. 728(a) and 310th Report, para. 367(a)). Noting with regret that the Government merely repeats its previous statements to the effect that the Trade Union Act fully guarantees the right of workers to form and join organizations of their own choosing, the Committee would once again request the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 13 of the Act are amended in line with freedom of association principles.
3. 166. Concerning the situation of persons specifically named by the complainant who were allegedly imprisoned for their attempts to establish independent workers' organizations or to carry out activities to defend the legitimate interests of workers, the Committee notes that the Government refutes that these workers were imprisoned for carrying out lawful activities to defend workers' interests or for their attempts to establish independent workers' organizations. Rather it claims that all these persons violated the law of the land which, under the terms of Article 8 of Convention No. 87, must be respected by workers and their organizations. While taking due note of the Government's statement, the Committee would recall that Article 8 of this Convention stipulates that in exercising their right to freedom of association, workers and their organizations shall respect the law of the land, provided that the law of the land shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, the guarantees provided for in this Convention. Before proceeding to examine individually the situation of the persons sentenced to imprisonment, the Committee notes in a general manner, that according to the Government, all of the persons concerned were convicted either for their subversive activities endangering national sovereignty and state security or were sentenced to re-education through labour. The Committee regrets that the Government does not provide any information on the grounds for which the activities carried out by these persons were considered "subversive". In light of the specific information provided by the complainant on the labour-related activities of these persons who were subsequently sentenced to imprisonment and in the absence of any explanation from the Government on the criminal nature of these activities, the Committee is bound to conclude, at the outset, that the individuals concerned were sentenced for carrying out legitimate trade union activities. The Committee is, a fortiori, bound to conclude that since the laws of the land (presumably the National Security Law and the Regulations on Re-education through Labour) were applied to persons who were carrying out legitimate trade union activities, their application in these cases constitute a flagrant violation of freedom of association principles. Hence, the Committee considers the Government's contention that "the persons mentioned in the complaint all violated the laws of the land" and that this case "is not a problem of violation of freedom of association but of infringements of the ordinary law" to be unfounded.. Finally, the Committee would emphasize that trade union rights, like other basic human rights, should be respected no matter what the level of development of the country concerned (see Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee, 4th edition, 1966, para. 41).
4. 167. With regard to the situation of Zhao Changqing, the complainant alleges that the authorities put him under house arrest to prevent him from standing for elections to a local People's Congress since he intended to use the electoral campaign as a platform to publicly denounce embezzlement of enterprise funds and non-payment of wage arrears. In this respect, the Committee would recall that a general prohibition on political activities by trade unions and their members for the promotion of their specific objectives is contrary to the principles of freedom of association. Trade union organizations may wish, for example, to express publicly their opinion regarding the Government's economic and social policy (see Digest, op. cit., paras. 452 and 455). The Committee notes that the Government merely indicates that Zhao was sentenced in January 1998 to three years' imprisonment for his subversive activities endangering national sovereignty and state security, without providing any information on the nature of these subversive activities. The Committee is therefore led to believe that Zhao was sentenced to imprisonment for exercising legitimate trade union activities; it urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure his immediate release and asks the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
5. 168. Concerning Li Qingxi who had allegedly criticized existing labour unions as mere "puppets" of the Government and had called for independent labour unions, and Jin Jiwu, Li Yingzhi and Song Ge who had allegedly met to discuss topical political and labour issues and protection for laid-off workers as well as to discuss plans to press for the release of another labour activist, the Committee notes the Government's statement that all these persons have now been released after serving their respective sentences of re-education through labour. The Committee would remind the Government that this system of re-education through labour continues a form of forced labour and administrative detention of people who have not been convicted by the courts and who, in some cases, are not even liable to sanctions imposed by the judicial authorities. This form of detention and forced labour constitutes without any doubt a violation of basic ILO standards which guarantee compliance with human rights and, when applied to people who have engaged in trade union activities, a blatant violation of the principles of freedom of association (see Digest, op. cit., para. 67). The Committee would strongly urge the Government to refrain in future from having recourse to such measures.
6. 169. Regarding the situation of Qin Yongmie who had allegedly issued a nationwide appeal for independent labour unions and had rejected an offer by the authorities to leave the country in January 1998, saying he feared he would not be allowed to return, the Committee notes with serious concern the Government's reply that he was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for subversion against national sovereignty and endangering state security. In this regard, the Committee would recall that the right of workers to establish organizations of their own choosing implies, in particular, the effective possibility of forming, in a climate of full security, organizations independent both of those which exist already and of any political party (see Digest, op. cit., para. 273). Noting that the Government does not provide any information on the grounds for which Qin's activities were considered to be subversive, the Committee can only conclude that Qin Yongmie was sentenced to imprisonment for his legitimate trade union activities. Deploring the harshness of the sentence handed down against him, the Committee strongly urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that he is released without delay. It requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
7. 170. As regards Zhang Shanguang, the complainant alleges that he was another worker who had tried to establish an independent trade union organization, the Shupu County Association for the Rights of Laid-off Workers. Moreover, he allegedly transmitted information about laid-off workers' protests in his region to foreign journalists and had been interviewed on the subject for which he was accused of "supplying intelligence to foreign organizations" and sentenced on 27 December 1998 to ten years' imprisonment with forced labour. The Committee notes with concern the Government's statement that Zhang was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for providing information to organizations outside China. The Committee deplores the harshness of this sentence and would remind the Government that the International Labour Conference has pointed out that freedom of opinion and expression and, in particular, freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media constitute civil liberties which are essential for the normal exercise of trade union rights (see Digest, op. cit., para. 39). The Committee therefore insists that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure the immediate release of Zhang Shanguang, and requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
8. 171. The Committee further notes with great concern the allegations concerning the state of Zhang's health, as well as the very serious allegations relating to the severe beating inflicted on him by members of a police-appointed militia during an interrogation on 6 August 1998. Noting with regret that the Government does not reply to these allegations, the Committee would recall that in cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment while in detention, governments should carry out inquiries into complaints of this kind so that appropriate measures, including compensation for damages suffered and sanctioning of those responsible, are taken to ensure that no detainee is subjected to such treatment. The Committee has also emphasized the importance that should be attached to the principle laid down in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights according to which all persons deprived of their liberty must be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person (see Digest, op. cit., paras. 57 and 59). The Committee therefore urges the Government to institute immediately an independent inquiry into the serious allegations of torture and ill-treatment inflicted on Zhang while in detention in order to determine responsibility and punish those responsible. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of the investigation.
9. 172. As regards the alleged detention and trial on 28 May 1999 of Yue Tianxiang, Guo Xinmin and Wang Fengshan, the Committee notes with serious concern the Government's reply that these three workers were sentenced respectively to ten years, two years and one year in prison for their subversive activities against national sovereignty and state security. The Committee notes the information provided by the complainant according to which Yue Tianxiang, an independent labour rights activist, had opposed a government ban on "politically" sensitive printed materials and begun publishing a magazine advocating workers' rights. He had allegedly used the inaugural issue of his publication, China Workers' Observer, to uncover corruption and other staff grievances at his state-owned transport company, where workers had not been paid, some for up to three years. In this regard, the Committee recalls that the publication and distribution of news and information of general or special interest to trade unions and their members constitute a legitimate trade union activity and the application of measures designed to control publication and means of information may involve serious interference by the authorities with such activity (see Digest, op. cit., para 161). The Committee further notes the complainant's contention that these three workers were also accused of receiving money from a foreign organization and would recall that it has considered that all national organizations of workers and employers should have the right to receive financial assistance from international organizations of workers and employers respectively, whether or not they are affiliated to the latter (see 305th Report, para. 380). Therefore, the sanctioning of any such acceptance as a crime is considered to be an infringement of the principles of freedom of association. The Committee would urge the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that Yue Tianxiang, Guo Xinmin and Wang Fengshan, sentenced respectively to ten years, two years and one year in prison, are released without delay. It requests the Government to keep it informed of developments in this regard.
10. 173. As regards the complainant's general allegation that the Chinese authorities are often late in paying the wages of workers as well as the pensions of retired workers, that laid-off workers do not receive any compensation and that workers who demonstrate against the non-payment of wage arrears or pensions are often ill-treated, beaten or arrested, the Committee notes the Government's reply that such an accusation is unfounded and constitutes a distortion of the reality. Hence, the Government does not deny the allegations that workers from the Peijiang Iron and Steel Factory in Jiangyou town in Sichuan Province demonstrated on 21 October 1998 to demand unpaid salaries, nor that workers from the Qintai furniture factory in the city of Wuhan took part in a sit-in on 4 January 1999, nor that coalminers from the Dujiang mine in the city of Chengdu took part in a sit-in on 18 March 1999 to demonstrate against their enterprise's application for bankruptcy. However, the Government refutes the allegations that the police used any force on these demonstrators, or that violent incidents ever occurred between the police and the workers leading to the injury of the latter in any of these demonstrations. Rather the Government claims that these disputes were all peacefully resolved.
11. 174. In view of the fact that the complainant and the Government give differing accounts of the events that took place during the course of these various demonstrations, the Committee would merely recall that workers should enjoy the right to peaceful demonstration to defend their occupational interests and that the authorities should resort to the use of force only in situations where law and order is seriously threatened. The intervention of the forces of law and order should be in due proportion to the danger to law and order that the authorities are attempting to control and governments should take measures to ensure that the competent authorities receive adequate instructions so as to eliminate the danger entailed by the use of excessive violence when controlling demonstrations which might result in a disturbance of the peace (see Digest, op. cit., paras. 132 and 137).
12. 175. Finally, in view of the importance of the principles which are at stake as regards the allegations, both of a legislative as well as of a factual nature, the Committee requests the Government to examine the possibility of a direct contacts mission being undertaken to the country in order to examine the pending issues with all the parties concerned. The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will respond positively to this suggestion, which has been made in a constructive spirit with a view to assisting the Government to find appropriate solutions to the existing problems and to fully implementing freedom of association principles.