Though I'm unsure where you've seen "working classes wielding state authority against capitalists" come to pass, we're discussing China—a place where the 996 work schedule is the norm (even more severe in manufacturing), where capitalists maliciously withholding wages is commonplace, where even establishing a union is treated as a crime, where those aiding workers in defending their rights are arrested, where Marxist clubs in schools are disbanded, and where students participating in labor movements face expulsion—in what sense is this "against capitalists"?

[–] QinShiHuangsShlong@lemmy.ml 1 points 52 seconds ago

place where the 996 work schedule is the norm

Wrong. It was never the norm across China's economy. It was concentrated in roughly forty large tech firms during the 2016-2019 boom cycle. In August 2021 the Supreme People's Court explicitly ruled 996 illegal, stating it violates statutory working hour limits and mandatory rest periods. The 2025 Consumption Boost Plan tightens this further with concrete measures against invisible overtime and stronger rest-time guarantees.

capitalists maliciously withholding wages is commonplace

Wage arrears will persist so long as capital exists. That is the unfortunate material reality of the world we live in. What distinguishes China is the enforcement architecture built to counter it. The judgment-defaulter list (失信被执行人) publicly names individuals and companies that fail to comply with court orders on wage payments and debts. Once listed, they face high-consumption restrictions (限制高消费): no business-class travel, no luxury hotels, limits on real estate and vehicle purchases. Combined with the blacklist for owed migrant worker wages and criminal prosecution for willful arrears, this creates real pressure on employers. It is not a perfect system but it is institutional recourse. Compare that to the procedural maze workers navigate in many Western systems when chasing unpaid wages

even establishing a union is treated as a crime

China's labor framework operates through the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. This isn't about silencing workers. It is about preventing fragmentation, foreign interference, and ensuring disputes resolve through arbitration and courts rather than adversarial chaos. Enterprise unions under this system negotiate contracts, handle grievances, and oversee safety. The ban on independent unions reflects a choice for unified, state-coordinated representation. That is a policy position. Debate it if you want. But calling it criminalization of worker advocacy is dishonest at best.

those aiding workers in defending their rights are arrested

Vigilante action undermines rule of law anywhere. China channels labor disputes through arbitration committees and courts that handle millions of cases annually. When people bypass legal channels to organize unsanctioned actions, it is the method that triggers enforcement.

Then is the broader picture you ignored. The CPC maintains over 95 percent public approval according to long-term Harvard Kennedy School surveys. Most mainlanders view China's system as highly democratic because it delivers accountability through performance: poverty alleviation that lifted nearly one billion people, infrastructure built for public benefit not shareholder profit, and anti-corruption enforcement that reaches from village cadres to top generals. The National People's Congress includes nearly 3,000 deputies with hundreds of farmers, frontline workers, and representatives from all 55 ethnic minorities. That is structural inclusion. When platform capitalists like Jack Ma pushed financialization models that threatened household debt burdens, regulators restructured those businesses toward consumer protection. Similar scrutiny has applied to ed-tech, gaming, and real estate speculation. Public hospitals, high-speed rail, rural broadband. These are not profit centers. They are working-class infrastructure. If your analysis starts from Western media caricatures instead of documented policy and measurable outcomes, you are not critiquing China. You are performing ideology (and poorly at that I might add).

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 minutes ago* (last edited 8 minutes ago)

996 was declared illegal in 2021, and was mainly in large tech companies, certainly not the norm even before 2021. Meanwhile, the state executes billionaires and capitalists found guilty of corruption. Unions are entirely legal, they just have to be a part of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and not rogue. Marxism is studied in China, you can even get a college degree in it. Workers and students and their rights are defended and protected by the socialist system.

Can you explain exactly what you mean? It's a mixture of half-truths and outright lies, and the half-truths deliberately leave out context and reasoning, such as the All-China Federation of Trade Unions existing as a sort of union of unions, China hasn't made unions illegal. Your entire comment was unsourced, too.