Danwei translates an interview with Hu Xiaoyan, one of three migrant worker representatives to attend the National People’s Congress session this year:
Being “timid” was the gentlest criticism leveled at her. In the weeks after the NPC sessions, she was accused of being opportunistic, self-promoting, and worst of all, out of touch with the migrant workers she was supposed to represent. Her phone number was published in the media, but it was unreachable: callers were greeted only with an advertisement for her company.
Why did she turn off her phone? And how has she managed her NPC duties over the past few months? The current affairs magazine Window of the South* recently caught up with Hu in two separate interviews at the factory where she works. She reveals that she stopped answering her phone once it became clear that people with genuine problems were in the minority; most of the phone calls and SMSs were from people who simply wanted to hurl abuse at her.
