How did China’s 996 culture become a 007 for worker’s rights?

The People’s Republic of China has many faces, depending on where you stand. To countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, China is a greedy neighbor who likes to use its military muscle to pillage marine resources (among other things it likes to take for itself).

To its own Uighur Muslims, “China” is the single deadliest signifier – a death sentence, the personification of xenophobia with murderous tendencies. And to China’s proletariat, its workers, even China’s once glorious tech industry is now rotting because of the country’s infamous 996 culture.

The 10-20 on the 996 – 9 to 9, 6 Days a Week

Jack Ma, currently the richest man in China, was recently quoted as saying that he loved China’s 996 culture because it is a “blessing.” How it is actually a blessing to the workers, wasn’t explained clearly, since he also stated that it wasn’t really about the money. Ma continued that putting in 12-hour workdays, six days a week was not a problem. Surely, Ma was referring to his business, and not the tech workers who constitute the machinery of the Alibaba trading platform.