Jasic incident

The Jasic incident (Chinese: 佳士事件; pinyin: Jiāshì shìjiàn) was a labour dispute in Pingshan District, Shenzhen of the Guangdong province of China between labour organizers and Chinese authorities that lasted from July to August 2018. The dispute began on 27 July 2018 when a group of workers of Jasic Technology Co., Ltd., dissatisfied by low pay, poor working conditions, and long shifts sought to form a trade union. Jasic responded to the workers petition by firing the employees. This sparked weeks of protests by factory workers in Shenzhen, as well as student members of the Jasic Workers Solidarity Group and other sympathizers. The protests consisted of public demonstrations, labour strikes, and direct action, and have been described as being largely Marxist and Maoist in nature. After a time of protests, on 24 August 2018, the police raided the activists' apartment and arrested about 50 people on the spot. In the months that followed, activists across the country who had been involved in protests were interrogated by the police, and left-wing societies in universities were disbanded or reorganized.