Chinese Police Accused of Transnational Repression Against Striking Workers in Sydney, Utilizing WeChat for Monitoring
Chinese police are alleged to have intervened in a planned strike by Chinese food delivery workers in Sydney, Australia. Several workers for HungryPanda, a Chinese-owned food delivery platform, reported receiving calls from Chinese police warning them against participating in the strike and threatening arrest if they returned to China. One worker stated his family in China was summoned for questioning. The workers had been organizing industrial action in a WeChat group due to dissatisfaction with pay cuts and lack of transparency in earnings. They believe that continuing to use Chinese mobile phone numbers registered under their real names while in Australia, combined with WeChat's legal obligation to comply with Chinese government requests, allowed authorities to identify and monitor them. Australian federal sources noted the difficulty in determining if Chinese police acted to assist the company or intervened independently after monitoring the WeChat group. This incident highlights growing international ... 
