Several thousand workers went on strike on 10 November at Sony’s Guangzhou plant demanding negotiations following announcements that the plant would be sold off to a Chinese company.

The Guangdong provincial union sent representatives to the plant to intercede, and hundreds of riot police arrived on the scene. On 14 November confrontations between workers and police left many injured, and at least 11 workers were arrested.

Sony paid workers 1000 yuan to end the strike while also firing dozens of strike organizers. The Guangdong union declared their intervention a success, though on social media, workers claimed that the union had forced them to sign a resolution. One worker remarked “ACFTU, you have turned out too late! Did you only come because you were forced to show up?”