Chaozhou Villagers Break Through Police Blockade to Hold ‘Ying Laoye’ Event as Scheduled (March 2, 2026)”
On the evening of March 2, the 14th day of the first lunar month, in Changmei Village, Fengxi Town, Chao’an District, Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, CCP police blockaded the temple gates, attempting to prevent villagers from entering the temple to carry out the deity statues for the traditional “Ying Laoye” (deity parading)* event. However, the police cordon was quickly and forcefully breached by young people, allowing the event to proceed smoothly.
Note: “Ying Laoye” (营老爷) is a traditional folk custom in the Chaoshan region where local deity statues are brought out of the temple and paraded through the streets to bless the community.
Hangzhou Foot Massage Parlor Employee Dies After Falling Down Drunk at Company Dinner; Family Suppressed While Seeking Justice (2026.02.27)
Recently, a tragedy triggered by a company dinner occurred in Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. A veteran employee who had worked at the “Zubenji” foot massage parlor for seven years fell after drinking excessively at a New Year’s Eve dinner organized by the company. Because the store failed to send the employee to the hospital in time, the employee tragically passed away. Afterwards, the company refused to take responsibility. When the family demanded an explanation, they were not only splashed with water and driven away by the store but were ultimately suppressed and arrested by the police.
According to family members and colleagues, the store involved is the “Zubenji” foot massage parlor located on Wensan West Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou. On February 16 (Lunar New Year’s Eve), the company organized a New Year’s dinner for hundreds of employees. During the event, the employee drank excessively and accidentally fell. However, as the organizer of the event, the company boss did not immediately send the injured and intoxicated employee to the hospital for treatment, but instead sent them directly back to the store. It wasn’t until they later discovered the employee had completely lost consciousness that the person in charge called 120 (emergency services). However, the optimal time for rescue had been missed, and a vibrant life was lost. The grieving and indignant family members stated that the deceased had worked diligently at the store for seven years. This was not a private gathering on the employees’ personal time, but a large-scale event organized by the company, which should have guaranteed the personal safety of every participating employee. But after the incident, the company not only tried to conceal the facts but also shirked responsibility the entire time. They never stepped forward to properly resolve the issue and showed no apology to the deceased, “treating human life as worthless.”
Faced with the company’s cold attitude of evading responsibility, the family of the deceased and some fellow townsfolk went to the Wensan West Road “Zubenji” store for three consecutive days from February 25 to 27 to seek justice. However, what awaited them was not negotiation or humanitarian comfort, but malicious retaliation from the store. To force the family to leave, the foot massage parlor resorted to extremely egregious methods: not only cutting off the electricity and water, but also forcibly blocking the restrooms inside the store, and even maliciously splashing water on the rights-defending family members.
In the early stages of the family’s rights defense, the local police arrived at the scene several times but failed to effectively intervene in the store’s extreme and bottomless expulsion tactics, leading to a continuous escalation of the conflict. The incident headed towards a more violent conclusion on February 27. On that day, facing the continuously protesting family members, the police suppressed the crowd demanding an explanation at the scene, and multiple rights-defending family members and fellow townsfolk were forcibly taken away. On the internet, videos posted by family members and colleagues were also swiftly scrubbed completely.
This tragedy not only exposes the involved company’s disregard for the lives and safety of its employees but also reflects the immense difficulties bottom-tier workers face in defending their rights when they are violated. The family not only failed to receive the compensation and apology they deserved, but instead became the targets of arrest.
February 27, workers at Shenzhen Oulutong Electronics Co., Ltd. in Guangdong went on a collective strike to protest the company’s relocation of its factory without offering compensation.
February 27 — To demand the payment of long-overdue land requisition compensation, more than a hundred villagers from Yangneiguan Village, Linxi Town, Yutian County, Tangshan, Hebei, briefly “occupied” the Linxi Town government building.
February 26, Shenyang North Railway Station, Liaoning — A woman who had been petitioning was intercepted just after stepping off the platform. She was forced to the ground and bound with clear tape by interception personnel.
February 26, Dongguan, Guangdong — Construction workers who went to demand unpaid wages at the Dongguan Construction Changying Factory Building Project were restrained by police.
From February 17 to 26, in Huangjinao Village, Tianba Community, Zhaxi Town, Weixin County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, villagers were forced to stand guard outside their homes day and night for ten days—from the first to the tenth day of the Lunar New Year—to guard against the CCP re-entering the village to forcibly demolish their houses. Earlier, on January 20, the villagers successfully repelled a forced demolition team using bricks and stones.
On February 26, in Liling City, Changde, Hunan, workers from the Hongxin Ceramics Factory who were blocking the national highway to demand their 2024 wages were forcibly dispersed by police.
February 25 — In Letang Village, Shiling Town, Lianjiang, Guangdong Province, authorities deployed a large number of police officers to block the three roads leading out of the village in order to prevent residents from holding a traditional “You Shen” (parade of deities) celebration.
February 25 — At the People’s Hospital of Xingping City, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, several family members of a patient who died in a medical accident were taken away by police while seeking an explanation from the hospital.
