Workers at the Foxconn Technology Group plant streamed out of dormitories in the early hours of Wednesday, jostling and pushing past the white-clad guards they vastly outnumbered, according to videos sent by a witness to portions of the protest. Several white-suited people pummelled a person lying on the ground with sticks in another clip. Onlookers yelled “fight, fight!” as throngs of people forced their way past barricades.
The protest started overnight over unpaid wages and fears of spreading infection, according to the witness, asking to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions. Several workers were injured and anti-riot police arrived on the scene on Wednesday to restore order, the person added. “I’m really scared about this place, we all could be Covid positive now,” a male worker said. “You are sending us to death,” another person said.The rare instances of violence at the plant in the central city of Zhengzhou reflects a build-up of tensions since the
with security personnel at Quanta Computer Inc’s factory in Shanghai after they were barred for months from contact with the outside world, while protests emerged in locked-down areas of Guangdong, the southern manufacturing hub.