“Hundreds of Hui Villagers in Qinghai Protest Government’s Forced School Closure (Oct 10, 2025)”
On October 10, in Dazhuang Township, Maying Town, Minhe County, Haidong City, Qinghai Province, hundreds of Hui villagers gathered in front of the township government to protest the local authorities’ decision to forcibly close Dazhuang Township Middle School. During the protest, some demonstrators briefly blocked road traffic.
According to local villagers, after the closure of Dazhuang Township Middle School, students will be reassigned to Minhe Middle School, located in the county seat about 60 kilometers away. This will cause great inconvenience for both students and their parents. If families are forced to relocate to the county seat, the cost of living will be far higher than in rural areas—something many households cannot afford. Some villagers also suspect that the government’s move is intended to boost property sales in the county seat.
“On October 9, in Yubei, Chongqing, dozens of construction workers blocked the gate of Longfor Real Estate to demand wages that have been owed for several years.”
On October 6 and 9, in Da’an Town, Pingnan County, Guigang, Guangxi, the owners of the unfinished housing project “Ronghe Town” staged collective protests twice, first gathering at the town government office and later going to the construction site to “threaten to jump off buildings.”
“Hundreds of Bus Drivers in Baiyin, Gansu Stage Collective Strike to Demand Wages (2025.10.09)”
On Monday morning, hundreds of bus drivers in Baiyin, Gansu Province went on a collective strike to demand their overdue wages, causing a widespread paralysis of local public transportation.
According to the striking drivers, the company has not paid wages for more than four months, and contributions to pension insurance and housing provident funds have also been unpaid for many years. By that afternoon, the striking drivers had resumed operations.
Since the beginning of this year, multiple cities across China have seen bus drivers stage collective strikes, mostly due to unpaid wages, subsidies, and long-term arrears in social insurance. Online responses to these events indicate that wage arrears for bus drivers are common in many other cities as well. Similar wage issues also frequently occur among teachers and medical staff in the public service sector. These phenomena suggest that social unrest triggered by local fiscal crises is beginning to emerge.
“Over 100 Workers at a Wenzhou Shoe Factory Protest Against Disguised Layoffs (October 5, 2025)”
On October 5, Wenzhou Futaitai Footwear & Apparel Co., Ltd., Zhejiang, suddenly announced the dismantling of its production lines and the continuation of an extended holiday, shortly after concluding a half-month-long vacation.
According to employees, the company’s management also tried to induce workers to sign termination agreements to evade economic compensation.
This move immediately sparked strong dissatisfaction among the staff, who launched a collective action demanding that the company provide compensation in accordance with the law. Since the protest has not yielded any substantive results so far, the employees plan to go to the local labor bureau on October 9 to request government intervention.
Public information shows that Futaitai Footwear & Apparel Co., Ltd., established in 2010, primarily engages in the manufacturing, processing, and sale of footwear and apparel products, with a focus on genuine leather women’s shoes, and employs over 100 people.
“5,000 Workers at Chinese-Invested Garment Factory in Cambodia Strike for Consecutive Days to Protest Fines and Welfare Cuts (Oct 2–3, 2025)”
From October 2 to 3, a large-scale strike broke out at TARAL Garment Factory, a Chinese-invested enterprise located in Kong Pisei District, Kampong Speu Province, Cambodia. Thousands of workers stopped work for two consecutive days and briefly blocked National Road No. 3, protesting the company’s recent punitive management measures and the cutting of lunch allowances.
This incident became one of the largest labor disputes in Cambodia’s manufacturing sector in recent months, drawing widespread attention from the government, media, and the public. According to multiple Cambodian news outlets, after a new management team took over at TARAL, the factory introduced several controversial new rules, including: •a US$10 fine for being one minute late, •cancellation of daily lunch subsidies, •higher production quotas and reduced performance bonuses, •a ban on bringing medicine or drinking water into the factory.
These harsh measures quickly sparked strong dissatisfaction among workers, who said the policies violated the principles of fair labor under Cambodia’s Labor Law.
The strike began on the morning of October 2. That day, some workers refused to enter the factory and gathered in protest outside the gate. On October 3, the situation escalated after the company announced that it would deduct one day’s wages from workers who joined the strike on October 2. Around 5,000 workers walked off the job again and blocked traffic on National Road No. 3, demanding the company withdraw the decision and reinstate the lunch allowance.
Videos from the scene showed thousands of workers occupying the road, chanting for fair treatment and respect for workers’ rights. The road blockade lasted for several hours, causing severe traffic disruption in the area. Later that day, the director of the Kampong Speu Provincial Labor Department led a mediation team to the site to negotiate between company and worker representatives.
Reportedly, the factory agreed not to deduct the October 2 wages and to review the lateness penalty policy. The company also promised to continue negotiations with worker representatives regarding the lunch subsidy and production targets. As of October 4, most workers had returned to work, though some of their demands remained unresolved.
TARAL Garment Factory, located in Cambodia’s garment manufacturing hub of Kampong Speu Province, mainly produces for European and American brands. The factory has been widely described by media as a Chinese-invested enterprise, though its specific ownership structure and parent company information have not been publicly disclosed.
Cambodia is a major garment exporter in Southeast Asia, with over 800 factories employing more than 700,000 workers, a significant proportion of which are Chinese- or Taiwanese-invested. In recent years, as global orders tightened and production costs rose, some companies have attempted to maintain profits through stricter management and higher output, leading to more frequent labor disputes.
On October 6, in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, eight chefs at the Wanxinglong Grand Hotel stood on the hotel terrace during the Mid-Autumn Festival, banging pots and pans to demand their wages.
On October 6, a construction worker trapped at a China State Construction Sixth Engineering Division site in Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia, posted a video saying that he had been in Ulaanbaatar for a month but had still not been able to start work. He wanted to leave but his passport had been confiscated, and his situation was no different from being in the “KK Park.”
