From Lunar New Year’s Eve to the first day of the Lunar New Year (February 16–17), in just one place — Gaoyou in Yangzhou, Jiangsu — workers from three garment factories were still demanding their unpaid wages. The factories are Shunbang Garments, Tianyu Garments, and Mimi Garments.
On February 13, dozens of displaced residents blocked the road in front of the Qianxi County government in Tangshan, Hebei Province, demanding that the Chinese Communist Party pay the overdue demolition compensation.
February 12, Weihai, Shandong — Wuhu Shipyard not only failed to pay wages for three months, but also called in police to forcibly disperse workers demanding their pay, with several people taken away.
February 11–12: Sanitation workers in Lanjia Town, Kuancheng District, Changchun, Jilin Province went on strike for two consecutive days due to long-term wage arrears.
February 11, at BYD Jixian in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province: after a worker died by jumping from a building, the worker’s family members seeking an explanation were blocked outside the factory for the sixth consecutive day by a human barricade formed by BYD staff.
Lingao, Hainan: Joy Over a Corrupt Official’s Fall Fades as Villagers Face Violent Crackdown Again (2026.02.01)
On February 1, 2026, a fierce confrontation between police and civilians erupted in Daya Village, Lingao County, Hainan Province. Just as villagers were still celebrating the downfall of a local official, a new round of violence left multiple residents injured and hospitalized.
According to villagers, long-standing grievances over forced demolitions, corruption, and unfair local elections prompted residents to gather at the Daya Village committee office that day to defend their rights. They blocked a government vehicle and demanded answers. Authorities quickly dispatched large numbers of police officers, special police, and government personnel to the scene, triggering an immediate clash.
During the confrontation, police and government staff not only sprayed villagers with pepper spray but also beat demonstrators with batons. Amid the chaos, villagers were forced to pick up dirt and bricks to fend off the attacks. Video footage shows the aftermath: the site left in disarray, with several villagers lying on the ground. Those seriously injured were rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.
For residents of Daya Village, such scenes are far from rare. Over the past several years, the Lingao local government has aggressively pushed land seizures and demolitions under the banner of “development and construction,” repeatedly clashing with villagers while competing for their land and interests. As recently as November 2025, a temple in neighboring Meiya Village was forcibly demolished, sparking widespread public outrage.
The irony is stark. More than ten days before the February 1 clash, villagers were still immersed in celebration. From January 17 to 19, 2026, after the former Lingao county party secretary was detained on suspicion of serious corruption, long-oppressed residents set off firecrackers and staged marches outside the village committee office for several consecutive days. They celebrated the fall of what they saw as a former “chief culprit,” believing that justice had finally arrived. Yet less than half a month later, the machinery of the state struck again. This blow injured not only the villagers’ bodies, but also shattered what little hope they had left in the rule of law and justice. What oppresses them, it seems, has never been just a single official, but the system itself.
February 3 — Hundreds of substitute kindergarten teachers gathered at the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education, chanting slogans and calling on the Communist Party to address the issue of lacking support in old age.
“Xi’an BYD Workers Go on Strike to Protest Pay Cuts (2026.02.05)”
On February 5, workers at BYD’s high-voltage electrical equipment factory located in the Jixian Industrial Park of the Xi’an High-tech Zone, Shaanxi Province, went on a collective strike to protest cuts to piece-rate bonuses.
According to workers, under BYD’s continued cost-cutting, the piece-rate bonus has been reduced from a previous maximum of 2,400 yuan per month to just 300–600 yuan. As a result, after deductions for social insurance and housing fund contributions, many workers’ monthly take-home pay has fallen to less than 2,000 yuan.
Student “Uprising” Erupts in Dezhou, Shandong: Dorms Trashed, Instructors Flee in Panic (February 1, 2026)
On the night of February 1st, a student “uprising” that sent shockwaves across the internet erupted under the cover of darkness in Dezhou, Shandong Province. That night, inside the Dezhou Huandi Xianglong Quality Education Base, the long-maintained order of oppression was shattered. There were no uniform slogans; instead, the air was filled with the crisp sound of shattering glass and the long-suppressed fury of the youths. Students, who had long endured oppression, broke through the blockade and smashed the dormitory doors and windows that symbolized their imprisonment. Meanwhile, the instructors—who usually brandished batons and lorded over the students—collectively crumbled and fled in panic when faced with genuine resistance.
Public records indicate that the institution involved, “Huandi Xianglong Quality Education Base,” is a subsidiary of Shandong Huandi Jinhui Education Management Co., Ltd. While the institution markets itself as a professional training base focused on youth development issues, it is, in reality, a typical “internet addiction treatment” and behavior correction school. Institutions of this nature have long existed in China, notorious for their militarized, enclosed, and punitive management styles. It is reported that the school houses approximately 200 to 300 students, divided into three sections. The protest erupted in “Section 3,” known for having the harshest management. According to insiders, most of the instructors are retired two-year conscripts who employ extremely harsh management tactics. Some are described as psychologically twisted, and corporal punishment has become the norm. It is common occurrence for students to be beaten with batons or placed in solitary confinement for minor infractions. Furthermore, the living conditions are squalid, and the food is appalling.
The seeds of resistance had been sown long ago, but the spark that lit the fuse was yet another instance of an instructor beating a student. Reports suggest the action was initiated by a “student assistant.” Enraged students smashed doors, windows, and extensive dormitory facilities, engaging in violent physical clashes with the instructors. Some students were injured during the conflict. After the situation spiraled out of control, the instructors fled the school en masse, and some students also left the camp. Subsequently, police intervened and cordoned off the school.
For a long time, such schools have operated in a regulatory gray area between education, training, and psychological intervention. Under the guise of “doing it for the child’s own good,” they establish order through confinement, fear, and absolute obedience, yet rarely solve the adolescents’ underlying psychological issues. Sending children to such institutions is often a way for some families to “pass the buck” following perceived educational failures: unwilling to face the fractures in the parent-child relationship or address the lack of companionship and deep psychological needs, parents attempt to outsource the problem to a crude and simplistic “reform system” for a solution.
Within these high walls, tragedies are endless. The fury of the Dezhou youths is paved with the blood and tears of countless historical tragedies. From Deng Senshan in 2009, to Lingling in 2014, and Li Ao in 2017; from the notorious Yuzhang Academy to Henan Yashengsi and Anhui Zhengneng… The riot at Dezhou Huandi School was not the frenzy of a mob, but the desperate roar for survival from countless “Li Aos” and “Linglings” trapped in a hopeless situation.
From February 1 to 3, workers at Hoshine Silicon in Shanshan County, Turpan, Xinjiang, went on strike due to long-term wage arrears. Public information shows that Hoshine Silicon’s four production bases in Xinjiang employ more than 11,000 workers, nearly 60% of whom are local ethnic minority employees (mainly Uyghurs).