Over the last months, independent trade unions in Hong Kong have been subjected to a systematic and relentless stigmatisation and vilification campaign. Various authorities, including the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the PRC State Council, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong SAR (HK Liaison Office), and the Secretary of Security of Hong Kong SAR have publicly labelled the targeted independent unions as political organisations and not legitimate trade unions. A large volume of false investigative stories have been aired presenting legitimate trade union activities, their participation in social movements, solidarity with international organisations, including international trade unions, as anti-government activities and acts of collusion with foreign forces to threaten national security.
On 30 and 31 July 2021, Chinese state-owned Xinhua News and the People’s Daily in Beijing aired an item about the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union (HKPTU) in which the trade union was called a political organisation, condemned for its long-term participation in the local democratic movement, accused of “inciting” teachers and students to join the anti-extradition protests and general strikes in 2019 and called “a tumor to be removed”. The union’s insistence on education autonomy and opposition to the revision of the syllabus of liberal studies were labelled as anti-government. The HKPTU has been a target of similar media attacks throughout August 2021. Later, materials by the same media included calls on members to quit the HKPTU and on the authorities to criminally investigate the organisation.
Since August 2021, the same media aired materials on the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and its international affiliations and contacts, including the ITUC. These affiliations were presented as evidence of collusion with foreign agents and foreign anti-China organisations. The HKCTU was accused of reception of foreign funding, specifically in the context of organisation of “anti-China” campaigns in 2019 and 2020, instigating unlawful labour strikes and supporting creation of “radical” anti-government trade unions. On 3 September 2021, the HKCTU and its leaders were attacked by Xinhua News and the People’s Daily for affiliating with the ITUC and participating in the activities of the ITUC. (Appendix One, VI). The 13 September headline stories reasserted many of these accusations and aired close-up pictures of the HKCTU leaders from internal trade union meetings and private gatherings with friends.
