Chinese police have allegedly intervened in a planned strike by Chinese food delivery workers in Sydney, with several workers saying they received warning calls from police in China telling them: “Don’t organise a strike overseas.”
The workers said they were planning industrial action against HungryPanda, a Chinese-owned food delivery platform, over alleged exploitation. Several said they were contacted by Chinese police, who warned that they could face arrest if they returned to China. One delivery worker said his family in China was summoned to a police station for questioning.
The allegations highlight growing concerns over China’s cross-border surveillance and pressure, and have prompted strong reactions from Australian trade unions and politicians.
Richard McGregor, a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute and an expert on China, described the alleged intervention as “sinister”.
“If it was just one phone call, it might not mean much,” McGregor said. “But multiple calls from different parts of China suggest a high degree of organisation and influence.”
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Michael Kaine, the National Secretary of Australia’s Transport Workers’ Union, said HungryPanda had long “punished workers who opposed unilateral pay cuts and raised concerns about workplace safety”.
“Workers are once again making it clear that they have had enough,” he said. “HungryPanda must stop arbitrarily cutting pay and suppressing workers who dare to speak up for their rights.”
Australian Labour senator Tony Sheldon also criticised the company, describing HungryPanda as one of the industry’s worst offenders in using algorithmic management to drive down wages and undermine working conditions.
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According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in February, several HungryPanda delivery workers in Sydney were unhappy about cuts to pay and a lack of transparency in the way their earnings were calculated. They discussed plans in a WeChat group to strike during the peak period on Lunar New Year’s Eve.
But before the protest had formally begun, several workers said they received calls from Chinese police that they regarded as cross-border intimidation.
Wang Zhuoying, a former delivery worker, said she received three consecutive calls from police in the area where she was registered in China while she was in Australia. The officers allegedly asked her to explain the situation surrounding the planned Sydney strike and warned her not to take part in protests overseas.
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During the third call, police also asked whether she was a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Wang said this made her feel targeted and intimidated.
Another delivery worker, Wang Cai, described an even more alarming experience. He said his father was summoned to a police station by officers in the middle of the night and told that his son was involved in “dangerous activities” overseas.
Several delivery workers said they continued using Chinese mobile phone numbers registered under their real names while living in Australia so they could remain in contact with family and friends through WeChat. They believe this enabled Chinese authorities to identify them.
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Under Chinese law, WeChat is required to comply with government requests, raising concerns that police may have monitored the WeChat group before intervening.
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The allegations come as China’s cross-border repression has attracted increasing international concern.
Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organisation, has said China is stepping up its efforts to suppress people overseas. Its latest example involved two Uyghurs in Paris who were allegedly pressured and offered inducements by people claiming to be Chinese officials, who asked them to monitor community activities or stop working.
The organisation called on the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to put the G7’s commitments on transnational repression into action at the summit and push for a coordinated response to such abuses.
Yalkun Uluyol, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said **China was using coercion, intimidation and surveillance **in an attempt to silence Uyghur critics overseas. French authorities, he said, should conduct a full investigation and take action to help Uyghurs resist intimidation.
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