Christopher Mung, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, delivered the following speech at the ITUC 5th World Congress in Melbourne, Australia, on 19th November 2022.
My name is Mung Siu Tat. I come from the former Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. Our confederation was disbanded last year under the intensive political attack. Our general secretary Lee Cheuk Yan and our Chairperson Carol Ng are both imprisoned and being charged against national security law. The Chinese government weaponize the National Security law to suppress the civil society and the labour movement.
We have done nothing to endanger the society but to fight for the democracy in an authoritarian state. We can by no means fully protect the workers’ rights and our dignity without democracy. Democracy is the soul of the labour movement. As Brother Lee Cheuk Yan said in a prison letter, “despite losing freedom, I will insist that fighting democracy is not a crime.”
We can by no means fully protect the workers’ rights and our dignity without democracy. Democracy is the soul of the labour movement
Christopher Mung, Executive Director of HKLRM
The dictatorship is not only destroying Hong Kong, but also threatening the safety and security in the regional and global level. The Chinese government are exporting the exploitation and suppression of human rights to everywhere. They are challenging the fundamental values of the international labour movement. It is time for us to take the united actions against the totalitarianism.
Although HKCTU is dissolved, our struggle for democracy and freedom will not end. The international labour movement is the important force we can always rely on. With your support, we strongly believe we are not alone. We are not isolated. With your support, we will continue our struggle until we win the democracy and freedom the Hong Kong people deserve.
We don’t know how long it takes for us to overcome the darkness before us. One thing is for sure the value we are upholding will live longer than the dictatorship.
Workers united will never be defeated!
Workers united will never be defeated!
