Sydney riders for the Asian-food delivery service, HungryPanda, have allegedly been receiving intimidating phone calls from Chinese police regarding protesting unfair pay cuts and conditions from the service.
Riders involved in the disputes say that their family members back home have been put under pressure to explain their children’s involvement in any upcoming protests, and some have even had police threatening their arrest if they return home to China.
What has happened?
Earlier this month, several Sydney-based Chinese nationals working for HungryPanda began organising a stop-work action in a WeChat group chat to coincide with the Lunar New Year, which typically brings in a large amount of orders on the app, in order to protest a lack of transparency and pay cuts from the company.
"People in the group chat were all saying they got called by the police in China. And I was chatting to my friend about this when the police called," former HungryPanda delivery driver, Wang Zhuoying, told the ABC.
In response, Ms Wang told the caller that she was organising a stop work protest in Australia, not in China, to which she was told she “should still try to avoid taking part in protests abroad.”
On the same day, she received a call from another Chinese police officer who threatened her arrest when she next returned to China if she chose to continue with the protest. A third caller, later in the week, demanded to know whether she was a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
Another driver from the group chat told the ABC that he’d received a very panicked phone call from his father back home, who had just been told by local police that his son was involved in dangerous activities overseas.
“My father called me as he’s a bit panicked. He was next to a policeman in the police station. The policeman asked me why I was organising a protest, what's the time and location,” he said.
Upon learning that the protest was to be held in Sydney, the policeman told Mr Wang that he needed to comply with local laws and regulations.
Can international students engage in protests?
Yes - protests can be powerful expressions of belief, but they also require understanding local laws and safety measures to ensure your experience is both positive and lawful.
Labor senator Tony Sheldon was concerned by the allegations detailed in the ABC report, saying that “Every person working in Australia has a legal right to organise, to speak up, to demand fair pay and conditions without fear or intimidation.”
He has assured the public that the Albanese government takes all instances of foreign surveillance and intimidation extremely seriously.
WeChat, the app used by the protest organisers, is a popular messaging platform used by Chinese nationals to be able to easily contact family and friends back home. Users register with their Chinese phone numbers, which are recorded under their legal names, making identification simple. The Chinese company, which operates under Chinese Law, has stated that it complies with the authorities’ requests for information.
It appears likely that ‘chatter’ within the WeChat group chats has triggered something in the app to alert police of the upcoming protests. In China, it is illegal to hold an unapproved protest or demonstration, and preapproved protests are very tightly controlled.
HungryPanda have stated that they were ‘unaware of the situation’ and not involved in the phone calls.
