As the founder of a labor organization, I have spent the past two decades studying working conditions in Taiwanese companies in China and maintaining contact with many workers who worked in Taiwan-funded factories. By observing their comments on social media and communicating directly, I found that these Chinese workers, who have worked for Taiwanese companies, are more likely than other Chinese citizens to express their dissatisfaction with Taiwan, particularly on issues such as Taiwan independence.

This finding contradicts intergroup contact theory, which states that interactions between different groups can reduce discrimination. Instead, personal experience and some academic evidence show that Chinese in direct contact with Taiwanese are more likely to support the use of force under Beijing’s one-China ideology. Additionally, Chinese workers who have interacted with Taiwanese management tend to have stronger negative feelings toward the Taiwanese.

This article explores an often overlooked factor in this dynamic: the way Chinese workers’ attitudes toward the Taiwanese exacerbate tensions in cross-strait relations.

Historical mistreatment of workers by Taiwanese companies

When Taiwanese companies entered China in the 1980s, working conditions in factories were terrible. Workers often suffered 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 company in Fuzhou, attracted attention when several female migrant workers complained of various abuses, including a worker from Jiangxi who was locked in a dog cage after being beaten and insulted.

As China has entered the 21st century and with the cancellation of the temporary residence permit system in Shenzhen, conditions have improved somewhat. Workers are increasingly aware of their rights and, thanks to the widespread use of the Internet and cell phones, inhumane treatment has begun to decrease. However, despite improvements during the 1980s, mistreatment of Chinese workers by Taiwanese companies remains widespread today.

In 2010, several employee suicides at Foxconn in Shenzhen briefly attracted media attention, prompting the company to take emergency measures such as installing suicide nets. However, these actions have not addressed the underlying problem of exploitation of low-level workers. In 2020, the The Financial Times reported on Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Pegatron’s labor law violation at its Kunshan factory, where student labor was used inappropriately, leading Apple to suspend business with the factory. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Labor practices at Taiwan-funded factories, such as Pegatron in Kunshan, are not isolated incidents. Workers often face arbitrary deductions from wages, fines for taking sick leave or vacation, corporal punishment, and verbal abuse. When wages are finally paid, workers often have their income significantly reduced through various deductions, leaving them with no wages owed when they leave.

Factories also regularly hire large numbers of students, who often cannot tolerate the harsh working conditions. However, schools force these students to continue working by threatening to withdraw their diplomas. Such behavior has become commonplace in Taiwanese factories.

It is important to note that similar working conditions existed in Taiwan between the 1950s and 1980s, during the era of Kuomintang (KMT) martial law. During this period, Taiwanese manufacturers produced products for international brands, and workers’ low-wage labor was responsible for Taiwan’s economic miracle. The exploitation of rural workers and women eventually gave rise to the independent labor movement in Taiwan in the 1980s. Although working conditions improved somewhat after Taiwan’s democratization, this labor model clearly did not disappeared: it was instead transferred to mainland China.

Labor conflicts during the KMT era also contributed to current ethnic divisions in Taiwan. Today, the mistreatment of Chinese workers by Taiwanese businessmen has become a focal point of anti-Taiwan sentiment on the Internet, particularly regarding Taiwan independence.

An outlet for worker frustration

Nowadays, on simplified Chinese internet platforms, complaints about Taiwanese businessmen and Taiwan independence are commonplace, with accusations of discrimination, low wages and other issues frequently raised. The phrase “Never work for a Taiwanese factory” has become commonly shared advice among workers. Anger over labor practices impacts how other Taiwan-related issues are viewed.

I have personally witnessed this feeling. In 2014, I helped more than 30 students who worked at the Pegatron factory in Shanghai recover part of their salaries. After staying in touch with them, I discovered that some of them became civil servants, businessmen or teachers. When Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in 2022, I saw these same people sharing a lot of anti-Taiwan rhetoric on social media.

One individual’s slogan was “Fight Taiwan and make dogs of the Taiwanese.” When I asked him why he had such opinions, he recalled his experience at the factory years ago. To keep his job, he endured long hours and personal humiliation, and when he left, the factory did not pay him his full salary. To him, Taiwanese businessmen represented all of the Taiwanese people, and the hardships he endured made him wish for the fall of Taiwan.

Foxconn employs around 1 million Chinese workers each year, with a staff turnover rate above 100%. So, every year, around 2 million people work at Foxconn. In 2008, researchers estimated that about 14 million Chinese workers were employed by Taiwanese companies, although there is no precise data on how many mainland employees work for Taiwanese companies each year.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Taiwan is mainland China’s fourth largest trading partner. As of 2022, Taiwanese companies have invested in around 127,000 projects in mainland China. Among the top 100 Chinese exporters, 30 are Taiwanese companies, all concentrated in labor-intensive sectors. Over the past two decades, tens of millions or more Chinese workers have worked in Taiwanese companies, many of them rural migrants or university students working on vacation. After graduating, many of these workers joined the middle class. Their experiences in Taiwanese businesses also influenced their families’ attitudes toward Taiwan.

Furthermore, the main point of contact between China and Taiwan is Taiwanese companies and Chinese workers and employees. What could appear as a class antagonism between workers and employers, in this context, is tinged with geopolitics. The antagonism between these two groups intensifies the division between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Indeed, a 2019 survey of 1,729 people in nine Chinese cities by Dr Dongtao Qi of the National University of Singapore and colleagues, found that 67.2% of Chinese nationals who have had contact with Taiwanese but have no friends in Taiwan favor armed reunification, while only 52.6% of mainland Chinese who have not been in Contact with Taiwanese supports reunification.

In October 2024, my colleagues interviewed 63 people who had worked in Taiwanese companies in an industrial zone in Shenzhen. Among them, 23 expressed support for armed reunification of Taiwan, and only nine expressed opposition.

Labor conflicts and nationalism

Companies in mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea also mistreat their workers. So why are there more anti-Taiwan sentiments among the Chinese public?

The answer lies in Taiwan’s unique historical status in China. Since the KMT’s withdrawal from 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.

Workers’ dissatisfaction with mainland or Hong Kong companies is considered a labor dispute, unrelated to national issues. Exploitation by Japanese and South Korean companies is considered a foreign invasion. However, the Chinese government considers Taiwan to be part of China. In this story, Taiwan therefore occupies an ambiguous position: it is neither considered a “foreign power” nor “one of us”. It is portrayed as a part of China that refuses to recognize its place, while simultaneously exploiting Chinese workers as “foreigners.” In this context, Chinese workers’ hatred of Taiwan is easily provoked.

Challenges and strategies

Could Chinese nationalist sentiment influence government behavior? China is using anti-Taiwan national sentiment to chip away at Taiwan’s territorial waters, and as we saw with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nationalism can be exploited.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te recently questioned why Beijing was not demanding the return of historic Chinese territories to Russia, thereby countering the Chinese government’s political narrative of territorial integrity. However, labor issues are more complex than simple nationalist sentiment.

Chinese workers’ discontent comes 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 towards Taiwan. While many Taiwanese view China as a foreign country and are indifferent to labor issues, the Chinese often view Taiwanese businessmen as representatives of Taiwan, without distinguishing between them and the Taiwanese population as a whole.

However, the Taiwanese government and society can take steps to repair the long-standing damage. For example, democratic countries around the world have invested considerable efforts to improve labor standards, such as the “Duty of Vigilance Law” in France, the “Supply Chain Due Diligence Law” in Germany and the EU “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive”. The Taiwanese government should follow suit by enacting legal standards to prevent Taiwanese companies from abusing foreign workers.