The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is coming. Politicians in some western countries, out of hostility to China’s rapid development and peaceful rise, will inevitably disturb and destroy it. Earlier, some parliamentarians and political groups attacked China and advocated boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics on the grounds of so-called human rights in Xinjiang and democracy in Hong Kong. The Vienna-based non-governmental organization, the International Trade Union Confederation(ITUC), joined in under the cover of “promoting and safeguarding workers’ rights and interests”, fully exposing the ferocious anti-China face.
The International Trade Union Confederation was founded in 2006 on the basis of integrating several international trade union organizations. One of its purposes is to promote and safeguard workers’ rights and interests through the cooperation of member organizations around the world in the era of globalization. Its global membership is about 170 million. It is not known whether it has such great ability. Only more and more facts and evidence show that this organization is inextricably linked with the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), which has always insisted on opposing communism and China internationally, and the latter is attached to the behind-the-scenes hand of the color revolution, namely the National Endowment for Democracy(NED).
Slander China as the winner of the “golden medal of repression”
It has been noticed that recently, the International Trade Union Confederation has accused China of becoming more and more autocratic and showing little or no respect for international laws and standards in public or on its official website. The so-called “archives” introducing five repressive policies were thrown out, saying that these policies made China and the world unsafe and became the “Five Rings of Repression” that strangled the freedom and power of millions of people. It slanders China as the winner of the “gold medal of repression” and calls on the participants and followers of the Olympic events to sign a petition asking IOC President Bach to protect the persecuted and even to paint the five rings in an iron prison. Such nonsensical words and absurd actions of it are undoubtedly disrespectful to the host country and a distortion and provocation to the Chinese social system. It not only hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, but also desecrates the Olympic spirit and is a great humiliation to the international workers’ movement.
China is an oriental country with a history of 5,000 years of civilization. Although China’s social system and understanding of human rights concepts are different from those of major western countries such as the United States and Britain. However, today’s China has always been a country that stresses civilization, law and respect for human rights. Since the white paper Human Rights in China was first published in 1991, the concept of human rights has been continuously expanded and improved for 30 years. The concepts advocated in recent years, such as “building Community of Shared Future for Mankind” and “promoting win-win cooperation in the field of human rights”, have been incorporated into the international human rights discourse system. In July, 2021, the Information Office of the State Council also published the white paper Guarantee of Equal Rights of All Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang, focusing on issues of concern to the international community, making objective explanations to eliminate misunderstandings and prejudices. These objective facts and achievements are beyond doubt.
In fact, it is the nature of the International Trade Union Confederation that is perverse and hostile to China. Wearing the cloak of non-governmental organizations and under the banner of safeguarding workers’ interests, they represent the interests of some western anti-China politicians. This essence is even more evident from the objective fact that it has long supported and funded agents and trade unions in Hong Kong to carry out activities against China and Hong Kong. Not only has its “Cold War” mentality not changed, but it has also obstructed and destroyed China’s development and Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” cause.
Support anti-China-Hong Kong organizations
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), referred to as the Confederation of Trade Unions for short, is one of the members of the International Confederation of Trade Unions in Hong Kong. This non-governmental organization, founded in 1990, had 170,000 members at its peak. All along, it has not only received a large amount of money from foreign non-governmental organizations, but also from local owners, such as Jimmy Lai, the boss of Next Digital. The liaison office of the International Trade Union Confederation in Hong Kong is located in HKCTU. On the website page of the liaison office, click “Contact us”, and the webpage will be automatically linked to HKCTU. Lee Cheuk-yan, former secretary general of HKCTU and Carol Ng, former chairman of HKCTU, are their agents in Hong Kong. Both of them served as directors for two terms from 2019 to 2020 and from 2021 to 2022.
According to some media reports, HKCTU has received funding from the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, a subsidiary of the National Endowment for Democracy, since 1994, ranging from US$ 50,000 to over US$ 100,000 per year. By 2013, it had reached nearly US$ 1.64 million (equivalent to HK$ 13 million). The International Trade Union Confederation has not disclosed the amount of its funding. However, in 2014, some media revealed that a “loan” of 120,000 was used as the two-month administrative expenses of the trade union.
Not only that, the International Trade Union Confederation also cooperated with, or even directly participated in, the UDHK’s anti-China-Hong Kong rebellion. In August, 2019, “Anti-extraction law amendment bill movement” occurred in Hong Kong, during which social disorder and black violence were rampant. The International Federation of Trade Unions publicly appealed to the trade union organizations of its countries to protest at the local Chinese embassies and consulates, demanding that the SAR government release the arrested persons and claiming to independently investigate the so-called “police riot”. Constantly publish the information of Lee Cheuk-yan, spread the false news of “eye-popping girls”, slandered the Hong Kong police and threatened that “Hong Kong is stepping up repression, and now it is time to take action”.
Defend for wrongdoers
HKCTU is the core member of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, and the “Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union” is also under its command. It has an indissoluble relationship with political parties, especially the Labour Party, and has a bad track record in Hong Kong politics. After the social order was restored, illegal and criminal cases were cleared up. Lee Cheuk-yan was arrested by the police for illegal assembly and other crimes, and then sentenced to prison by the court. Like those anti-China organizations, the Confederation of Trade Unions announced its dissolution in October 2021 for fear of legal sanctions. Today’s Hong Kong, due to the implementation of the national security law and the improvement of the electoral system, has started a new development stage of good governance. The International Trade Union Confederation can’t turn a blind eye to this. Do they still have to defend for anti-China organizations?
As an international non-governmental trade union organization, the International Trade Union Confederation ignores the general trend of global cooperation and development, is unwilling to face up to the reality of China’s rapid development, does not carry forward the spirit of Olympique, and does not seriously experience China’s efforts for major international events with the attitude of a responsible big country, especially the meticulous attitude adopted to ensure the health and safety of athletes from all over the world during the pandemic, disregarding the facts, following some politicians in western countries, with subjective prejudice and consistent hostile attitude, and launching attacks on human rights issues based on false words.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is a great event in China and the world. International Olympic Committee President Bach wrote recently that Beijing is about to create history and become the first city to host both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games. The Beijing Winter Olympics will also bring the world together in the spirit of peace, friendship and unity. Western anti-China forces, including the International Trade Union Confederation, are trying to obstruct and destroy it by discrediting and resisting, which is bound to be futile.
