As the founder of a labor organization, I have spent the past two decades studying the labor conditions in Taiwanese companies in China and maintaining contact with many workers who have worked in Taiwan-funded factories. Through observing their comments on social media and direct communication, I found that these Chinese workers, who have worked for Taiwanese companies, are more likely than other Chinese citizens to express dissatisfaction with Taiwan, especially on issues like Taiwan independence.
This finding contradicts the intergroup contact theory, which posits that interactions between different groups can reduce discrimination. Instead, personal experience and some academic evidence show that Chinese people with direct contact with Taiwanese individuals are more inclined to support the use of force under Beijing’s One China ideology. Moreover, Chinese workers who have interacted with Taiwanese management tend to harbor stronger negative feelings toward Taiwanese people.
This article explores a frequently overlooked factor in this dynamic: how Chinese workers’ attitudes toward Taiwanese people exacerbate tensions in cross-strait relations.
The Historical Mistreatment of Workers by Taiwanese Businesses
When Taiwanese businesses first entered China in the 1980s, working conditions in factories were abysmal. Workers often endured beatings, insults, and even corporal punishment, such as being forced to run laps inside factories as a form of discipline. In 1994, an incident at Yongqi Footwear, a Taiwanese enterprise in Fuzhou, drew attention when several female migrant workers complained of various abuses, including one female worker from Jiangxi who was locked in a dog cage after being beaten and insulted.
As China entered the 21st century and with the cancellation of Shenzhen’s temporary residence permit system, conditions improved somewhat. Workers’ awareness of their rights increased, and with the widespread availability of the internet and mobile phones, inhumane treatment began to decrease. However, despite improvements over the 1980s, the mistreatment of Chinese workers by Taiwanese businesses remains widespread today.
In 2010, multiple worker suicides at Foxconn in Shenzhen briefly garnered media attention, prompting the company to take emergency measures such as installing anti-suicide nets. However, these actions did not address the underlying issue of exploitation of low-level workers. In 2020, the Financial Times reported on the violation of labor laws by Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Pegatron at its factory in Kunshan, where student labor was improperly used, leading Apple to suspend its business with the factory. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The labor practices at Taiwanese-funded factories, such as Pegatron in Kunshan, are not isolated incidents. Workers frequently face arbitrary wage deductions, fines for taking sick leave or vacations, corporal punishment, and verbal abuse. When wages are finally paid, workers often find their earnings significantly reduced by various deductions, leaving them without their due pay when they leave.
Factories also routinely hire a large number of student workers, who often cannot endure the harsh working conditions. Schools, however, coerce these students into continuing to work by threatening to withhold their diplomas. Such behavior has become commonplace in Taiwanese factories.
It’s important to note that similar labor conditions occurred in Taiwan from the 1950s to the 1980s, during the Kuomintang (KMT) martial law era. During that period, Taiwanese manufacturers produced goods for international brands, and the low-wage labor of workers underpinned Taiwan’s economic miracle. The exploitation of rural workers and women eventually gave rise to Taiwan’s independent labor movement in the 1980s. Although labor conditions improved somewhat after Taiwan’s democratization, this labor model clearly did not disappear – instead, it was transferred to mainland China.
The labor conflicts during the KMT era also contributed to the current ethnic divisions in Taiwan. Now, the mistreatment of Chinese workers by Taiwanese businessmen has become a focal point for anti-Taiwan sentiment on the internet, especially in relation to Taiwan independence.
A Vent for Workers’ Frustration
Nowadays, on simplified Chinese internet platforms, complaints about Taiwanese businessmen and Taiwan independence are rampant, with accusations of discrimination, low wages, and other issues frequently raised. The phrase “Never work for a Taiwanese factory” has become a common piece of advice shared among workers. The anger over labor practices impacts how other issues related to Taiwan are viewed.
I have personally witnessed this sentiment. In 2014, I helped more than 30 college students who worked at the Shanghai Pegatron factory recover part of their wages. After staying in touch with them, I discovered that some of them went on to become civil servants, businesspeople, or teachers. When then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, I saw these same individuals sharing a large amount of anti-Taiwan rhetoric on social media.
One individual’s profile slogan was “Fight Taiwan and make Taiwanese people dogs.” When I asked him why he held such views, he referred to his experience at the factory years before. To keep his job, he had endured long hours and personal humiliation, and when he left, the factory had not paid him his full wages. To him, Taiwanese businessmen represented all Taiwanese people, and the hardships he suffered made him wish for Taiwan’s downfall.
Foxconn employs about 1 million Chinese workers annually, with an employee turnover rate exceeding 100 percent. As a result, each year, approximately 2 million people work at Foxconn. In 2008, scholars estimated that about 14 million Chinese workers were employed by Taiwanese companies, although there is no accurate data on the number of mainland employees working for Taiwanese businesses annually.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, Taiwan is mainland China’s fourth-largest trading partner. By 2022, Taiwanese businesses had invested in approximately 127,000 projects in mainland China. Among the top 100 Chinese exporters, 30 are Taiwanese companies, all concentrated in labor-intensive industries. Over the past 20 years, tens of millions of Chinese workers, or perhaps more, have worked in Taiwanese enterprises, many of them rural migrants or university students working during vacations. After graduation, many of these workers joined the middle class. Their experiences in Taiwanese companies have also influenced their families’ attitudes toward Taiwan.
Further, the biggest point of contact between China and Taiwan is Taiwanese companies to Chinese workers and employees. What could seemingly appear as a class antagonism between workers and employers, in this context, is colored by geopolitics. The antagonism between these two groups intensifies the split between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Indeed, a 2019 survey of 1,729 people from nine Chinese cities, conducted by Dr. Dongtao Qi of the National University of Singapore and his colleagues, found that 67.2 percent of Chinese nationals who had contact with Taiwanese but had no friends in Taiwan were in favor of armed reunification, while just 52.6 percent of mainlanders who have not been in contact with Taiwanese support reunification.
In October 2024, my colleagues interviewed 63 people who had worked in Taiwanese enterprises in an industrial area in Shenzhen. Of those, 23 expressed support for the armed reunification of Taiwan, and just nine expressed opposition.
Labor Disputes and Nationalism
Companies from mainland China, Hong Kong, and South Korea also mistreat workers. So why is there more anti-Taiwan sentiment among the Chinese public?
The answer lies in Taiwan’s unique historical status in China. Since the KMT’s retreat to Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party has maintained a narrative centered on the idea of a unified Chinese nation, asserting that the mainland and Taiwan both belong to “one China,” with the People’s Republic of China being the legitimate government.
Worker dissatisfaction with mainland or Hong Kong companies is seen as a labor dispute, unrelated to national issues. Exploitation by Japanese and South Korean companies is viewed as foreign invasion. However, the Chinese government frames Taiwan as part of China. In this narrative, then, Taiwan occupies an ambiguous position: It is not considered a “foreign power,” nor is it fully seen as “one of us.” It is portrayed as a part of China that refuses to acknowledge its place, while simultaneously exploiting Chinese workers as “outsiders.” In this context, Chinese workers’ hatred toward Taiwan is easily provoked.
Challenges and Strategies
Could Chinese nationalist sentiment influence the government’s behavior? China is using domestic anti-Taiwan sentiment to nibble away at Taiwan’s territorial waters, and, as we have seen with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nationalism can be exploited.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te recently questioned why Beijing doesn’t demand the return of historical Chinese territories from Russia, effectively countering the Chinese government’s political narrative on territorial integrity. However, labor issues are more complex than mere nationalist sentiment.
Chinese workers’ dissatisfaction stems not only from government propaganda but also from their personal experiences working in Taiwanese companies, which fuels their resentment toward Taiwan. This resentment, in turn, influences the Chinese government’s policy toward Taiwan. While many Taiwanese view China as a foreign country and are indifferent to labor issues, Chinese people often see Taiwanese businessmen as representatives of Taiwan, without distinguishing between them and the broader Taiwanese population.
However, the Taiwanese government and society can take steps to repair the long-standing damage. For instance, democratic nations around the world have invested significant effort in improving labor standards, such as France’s “Duty of Vigilance Law,” Germany’s “Supply Chain Due Diligence Act,” and the EU’s “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.” The Taiwanese government should follow suit by enacting legal standards to prevent Taiwanese businesses from abusing overseas workers.