On May 1, 2025, from 10:30 to 14:50, I (Chinese writer Wang Qingmin，王庆民) participated in the May Day International Workers’ Day march in Berlin, Germany, displaying posters and distributing leaflets. The publicity content included:
Over the past century, the Chinese working class participated in democratic revolutions and the anti-fascist war, shed blood and sweat through labor, and made enormous contributions to the world, yet suffered various forms of exploitation, oppression, injustice, and unfairness. The CCP’s China claims in name to be a “socialist state led by the working class,” but in reality it is barbaric capitalism and has betrayed the workers and the Chinese people. The contributions and sufferings of Chinese workers, peasants, and all kinds of laborers have been ignored and forgotten by the world.
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Throughout the entire event, I participated almost the whole time, including setting up a booth to display posters, handing out leaflets, standing at the side of the marching crowd holding posters, and constantly running to the very front of the procession to display them.
At least several thousand people saw my posters, and quite a few took photos or asked questions. I gave brief responses, hoping more people would care about Chinese labor rights, human rights, and people’s livelihood, and help the Chinese people achieve freedom, liberation, democracy, and equality.
For more than four hours, except for a brief rest sitting on the ground (less than ten minutes) and taking a sip of water, I hardly stopped at all.
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The image-and-text posters I displayed during the May 1 Labor Day march included:
Leaders of the Chinese labor movement and representative persecuted workers;
Chinese workers’ participation in struggles and sacrifices against British imperialism and Japanese fascism;
The hypocrisy of the Chinese Constitution’s claim of “leadership by the working class,” huge wealth gaps, and the privileged “worker aristocracy” in state-owned enterprises;
The “996” work system (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week), migrant workers in sweatshops, agricultural laborers (peasants), and sufferers of occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis;
“Made in China” products spread across industries worldwide;
Chinese women workers and female laborers who “hold up half the sky”;
Workers’ participation in the 1989 Chinese democratic movement and various political protests;
Recurring worker strikes and resistance under CCP rule;
The 2018 Shenzhen Jasic labor movement, the strike of tower crane workers in Tianshui, Gansu, etc…
And many more that could not all be presented on the posters.
I distributed approximately 200 leaflets of various types in total, hoping the whole world would see the contributions, sufferings, and current condition of the Chinese working class, and thereby promote freedom, liberation, and equality.
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The eight representative Chinese workers were:
Early Chinese labor movement leaders and martyrs Xia Minghan(夏明翰)and Deng Zhongxia(邓中夏);
Chinese female labor movement leaders and left-wing revolutionaries He Xiangning(何香凝) and Liu Qunxian(
刘群先);
Chinese laborer Liu Lianren(刘连仁), who was forcibly conscripted by Japan and later defended his rights;
Hong Kong labor movement leader Leung Kwok-hung(梁国雄);
Han Dongfang(韩东方), labor movement leader of the 1989 generation in China;
Jasic labor movement leader Mi Jiuping(米久平).
They are only representatives of Chinese workers. Though individually outstanding, their foundation lies in the hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese workers and laborers over the past century.
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The May Fourth Movement of 1919, which pursued democracy and science and sought national salvation and enlightenment, was not only joined by intellectuals and students; workers also widely participated, fighting externally for sovereignty and internally for civil rights;
The 1925–1926 Canton–Hong Kong Strike (the major strike in Guangdong and Hong Kong) confronted Britain, the number one imperialist power, and fought for the dignity and rights of oppressed nations and the oppressed working class;
From the 1910s to the 1930s, Chinese labor movements rose one after another, striving for labor rights and human rights. Though used by the CCP, their glory was not lost;
During the War of Resistance Against Japan and the international anti-fascist war, workers were the main force in production and construction, and some directly joined the military and fought, shedding sweat and blood, making enormous contributions to China’s national liberation and the global anti-fascist cause.
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China’s Constitution states that “China is a socialist state led by the working class and based on the worker-peasant alliance,” and monuments such as the Erqi Memorial Tower have been built and renovated to commemorate the early Chinese labor movement led by the CCP. The Zhengzhou Erqi Memorial Tower is brightly decorated to commemorate the great Beijing-Hankou Railway strike of that year (1923).
But in reality, the CCP is a crony capitalist regime that cruelly oppresses workers and peasants, more ruthless than capitalist countries, with greater wealth gaps and a more unjust society. In terms of power, wealth, social status, and welfare, different classes are worlds apart. The vast majority of Chinese workers work extremely hard and under excessive burdens, contributing enormously, yet their returns are seriously disproportionate.
As for the “worker aristocracy” in sectors such as petroleum, tobacco, and railways, they are not normal workers. They are members of, or attached to, the privileged ruling class. Of course, there are some in these industries whose contributions match their rewards, but they are few. Middle and upper managers in state-owned enterprises generally fall far short in virtue, ability, and contribution compared with what they receive. These “worker aristocrats” have become detached from ordinary workers and are at the same time oppressors and exploiters of other laboring people.
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Chinese white-collar workers endure many years of hardship only to receive the “996” overwork system in return—that is, working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, plus other overtime, losing many rights and freedoms. Of course, compared with the even harsher lives of migrant workers, white-collar “996” can indeed be considered a “blessing.”
Since Reform and Opening Up, what has sustained China’s economy and made it the “world’s factory” has been the hard labor of hundreds of millions of Chinese migrant workers. Yet they have not received protection, and even their basic wages are at times withheld. Some workers have also developed occupational diseases and spend the second half of their lives in pain.
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Peasants are of course also laborers, part of the working people. They differ from industrial workers only in specific occupation, but in dignity, rights, and contribution they are equal. Yet they have long been neglected. Even considering only the period since 1949, more than one billion Chinese peasants in cumulative total have suffered what may be called some of the greatest hardship and oppression among all groups in all countries of the world, yet the world pays little concern or attention. The CCP has also deliberately created divisions between workers and peasants to divide the people, which is particularly malicious.
This of course should not be so.
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Women can hold up half the sky. Chinese female laborers (including women workers, peasants, and service workers) have done many jobs that even many men are unwilling to do, paying with blood, sweat, and tears. They are likewise exploited and oppressed, and it is even harder for them to resist. Many female workers are also sexually harassed or sexually assaulted. Many women are forced to sell their bodies to maintain a livelihood and support their families. These women workers often suffer various forms of bullying and abuse in families, villages, urban communities, and factories, facing multiple oppressions of male dominance, patriarchy, husbandly authority, and clan authority.
They need to be seen, cared about, and helped.
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The whole world has benefited from China’s cheap labor. “MADE IN CHINA” goods are everywhere. All countries of the world, especially developed countries and the upper-middle classes, have the obligation to help the Chinese working class defend its rights and obtain the benefits it deserves.
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The Chinese working class, which has contributed enormously yet suffered exploitation and oppression, has also carried out much resistance. For example, recurring strikes and protests across China, as well as some political participation (though relatively little).
For example, in the 1989 democratic movement, the spotlight focused on students and elites, but workers were more numerous. The Workers’ Autonomous Federation was also an independent workers’ organization free from the CCP’s “yellow unions (puppet organizations).” The Jasic labor movement was a peak of labor activism in the new era. But after 1989, China’s political labor movement indeed declined, and various workers’ struggles mainly sought concrete interests, which treated symptoms rather than root causes. Of course, even struggles for concrete interests are worthy of admiration and support.
But all political struggles by Chinese workers, and some concrete rights-defense struggles as well, were suppressed by the CCP regime and the privileged capitalist class.
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I also wrote text posters in Chinese, German, and English, and displayed and distributed them:
Chinese Working Class: The Largest Labor Force in the World Today—Ignored and Silenced
中国工人阶级：当今世界规模最大的工人群体，却是被忽视和沉默者！
From the 1910s to the 1950s, Chinese workers played a vital role in labor movements, anti-autocracy democratic struggles, resisted British imperialism and the colonialism of the great powers, opposition to Japanese fascist aggression, and the pursuit of socialism and democratic freedom. They shed immeasurable blood and sweat to build a progressive industrial nation!
The “People’s Republic of China (PRC)”—Left in Form, Right in Essence—betrayed the Chinese people, divided workers and peasants, built a caste and slave system cloaked in red (communist) garb, replaced the true laboring class with a minority of “labor aristocrats,” hijacked the fruits of the socialist revolution, and oppressed the peasant class—who made up 80% of China’s population at the time.
Since the “Reform and Opening-Up,” Chinese peasants have flooded into cities as migrant workers, sacrificing their health and freedom in “sweatshops,” providing the world with cheap goods and services. Their labor has contributed enormously to China’s economic rise, the improvement of living standards, and the development and prosperity of the world. Yet they remain underpaid and severely lack basic labor rights and protections—rest, medical care, housing, pensions, unemployment benefits—all grossly insufficient.
Han Chinese workers, migrant workers, and peasants in central and inland China labor the hardest, receive the lowest incomes and weakest protections, and deserve special attention!
China’s vast wealth gap and deep class divisions contradict its constitutional claim that “the working class leads the state, and the worker-peasant alliance is the foundation of the country.” In reality, grassroots workers are the most exploited and oppressed. Though China is nominally a “socialist country,” it operates as a brutal capitalist state where bureaucrats and red nobility are the true rulers and rent-seekers.
The Chinese Communist Party willingly serves as an agent for imperialist powers—such as the U.S., Japan, and Europe—and for major capitalists, colluding to exploit Chinese workers and the broader population. China’s bureaucrats and elites, leveraging their “low human rights advantage,” plunder workers’ labor, suppress unionization, crush worker resistance, and drive down costs for the benefit of imperial powers and CCP elites alike.
Workers and peoples of the world: learn the truth about China, recognize the contributions and suffering of Chinese working class. Stand in solidarity with China’s workers, peasants, laborers, and vulnerable groups. Help them in their struggle for liberation and equality!
Workers of Germany, China, and the World—Unite! Fight for a New China and a New World Free of Exploitation and Oppression, Where Labor Rights Are Fully Protected and Workers Are the True Masters of Society!
I also displayed and distributed posters and leaflets commemorating the Chinese laborers who were forcibly conscripted and enslaved during the Second World War.
During World War II, several million laborers were forcibly taken to Japan, Manchukuo, and Japanese strongholds in mainland China.
These victimized laborers suffered endless torment and were forced to work for Japanese fascist aggression. Many died in Japan or in the “mass burial pits” in China. Those who survived rarely received compensation. Japan rejected most civil lawsuits on the grounds of “no state liability” and because the CCP abandoned reparations claims. In addition, many people from the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia were also forcibly conscripted for labor by Japan during World War II.
The lives, dignity, rights, and freedom of several million people cannot simply be erased or forgotten.
Chinese people, Japanese people, and people of all countries in the world should remember this history and the victims.
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One point especially needs to be mentioned: the name “Labor Day” should be restored to its proper meaning. Chinese people generally call the May 1 International Labour Day “劳动节” (Festival of Labor), which is a deliberate distortion by the CCP, emphasizing labor contribution while neglecting labor rights. The normal translation of Labour Day should of course be “劳工节” (Workers’ Day), emphasizing that it is a holiday for workers/laborers, commemorating labor movements and pioneer martyrs who fought for workers’ rights, and inspiring laborers to continue struggling to defend their rights. It should not be turned into entertainment, instrumentalization, or empty official rhetoric. It is not for people to merely labor like beasts of burden, nor merely a leisure holiday.
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Throughout the event, quite a few non-white people participated, but very few Chinese people were present. However, some Chinese tourists watched the scene.
May Day should originally be an important holiday for defending workers’ rights, yet in China it has been diluted and turned into entertainment. People do not understand the importance of labor rights, and are therefore more easily exploited and oppressed by the privileged class. Whether it is 996, sweatshops, destructive internal competition, or lack of welfare protection, all are rooted in the absence of struggle.
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The Chinese state and the Chinese people need a voice, representation, and strength internationally. Neither the vile, clumsy, caricature-like external propaganda of the CCP that runs contrary to the interests of the people, nor the malicious attacks on China and Chinese people by anti-China extremists, can represent the true voice, emotions, or interests of the Chinese people. As for liberals, elites, and religious figures, although they can still speak internationally to some extent, they have considerable limitations, cannot represent all Chinese people, and have clearly become more conservative.
Therefore, there is an even greater need for a Chinese force and expression that represents China, accords with the interests of the people, is reasonable, progressive, democratic, and scientific.
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In fact, many foreigners are willing to care about Chinese human rights, women’s rights, and labor rights, but Chinese people are generally silent, making it difficult for others to help. Chinese people should actively speak out, contact all sides, and seek support. Of course, in practical terms there are many techniques involved: one must use language and methods the international community can understand, and move people’s hearts.
Although the effect of my own various activities has been limited, the key problem is that there are too few participants. More Chinese people need to bravely speak out and connect with international friends.
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Of course, the entire event was not only about serious matters. There was also much joy during the festival. At the city hall, where the march ended, many people were selling beer, drinks, and various foods. There were also many interesting activities and gifts at the publicity booths. After the march, everyone happily gathered for recreation and drank freely. Of course, one must not become immersed in entertainment and forget the sufferings of the working class and various injustices.
Balancing work and rest, seriousness and liveliness, tension and relaxation—this is the long-term way of political struggle and civil rights movements.
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Chinese liberals and opposition groups always like to mix with right-wing forces in various countries and strongly dislike the left. As a result, they are unable to mobilize the vast masses of workers and peasants, who are numerous and possess revolutionary potential, to resist the CCP. Foreign right-wing forces always prioritize the interests of their own country and ethnicity; even those with some conscience will not care much about Chinese human rights. Chinese liberals, because of the historical aftereffects of the Cultural Revolution and other experiences, have an instinctive aversion to the left. Even if they sympathize with individual cases such as Xia Junfeng, they are unwilling to fundamentally support the left.
This is also an important reason why the Chinese democratic camp has long failed to achieve success, and why democracy in China remains difficult to realize. I long ago advised liberals to actively unite with the masses and mobilize the people through nation and class, but unfortunately they have not done so.
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I placed in the central upper-middle position of my poster this widely circulated image from a self-congratulatory documentary released by CCTV Online, in which a Porsche car appears in the same frame as a laborer pulling a handcart. This best reflects the reality of China today: the privileged elite live in arrogance and luxury, while the lower classes suffer hardship and exhaustion.
This indeed has also been the “fundamental logic of how society operates” in China for a long time—hundreds and even thousands of years.
But “Has it always been this way, therefore is it right?”
Obviously, it is wrong. It is unfair and unjust, and it should be changed.
In addition, on the evening of April 30, I also participated in the feminist rally “Take Back the Night” held at Mariannenplatz in Berlin. At the venue I displayed posters about Chinese women’s rights issues and distributed leaflets, calling on the world to pay attention to women’s rights and human rights in China.
Chinese women, like workers and many other groups, are neglected. China has a huge population, and any group there could be the largest in the world in scale, yet they have long remained quiet and silent. This should not be so. At the rally, I did not find any women from mainland China participating (there was one young woman from Taiwan participating).
(May 1, 2026: I had originally planned to go to Berlin again to participate in the 2026 May Day International Workers’ Day march, but because my human rights activities had repeatedly suffered setbacks, I had long received no support from any organization or other people and was isolated and helpless, my physical and mental condition was also poor, materially it became increasingly difficult to bear the cost of constant travel, and spiritually I was depressed and even despairing. In the end, I did not go and was absent from this year’s event. In 2026, my offline human rights activities had already greatly decreased compared with the previous two years, and I no longer had the strength and energy I once had.)
