China challenged over protest leader

China's north-east has seen a series of mass protests

An international trade union body has criticised China's response to recent labour unrest and expressed fears about the safety of protest leaders.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), an umbrella body for national trade unions, said it was particularly worried about Yao Fuxin, 54, who was arrested in Liaoyang on 17 March.

The ICFTU said it believed Mr Yao had been "severely mistreated" by public security officials after being detained, or that he may actually have been killed while in official custody

It said a Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) official had visited Mr Yao's wife and said he was "in a very serious condition, at the hospital, after having suffered a heart attack".

The ICFTU said it had verified that Yao Fuxin was in a "perfect state of health" prior to his detention and had never suffered any heart problems.

Mr Yao was arrested for helping organise protests that at one stage involved up to 30,000 disaffected workers, most of which were angry about unpaid wages and benefits.

Three other workers' leaders were also arrested.

On Friday, more than 200 workers and relatives gathered for a second day outside the Liaoyang city government offices to appeal for the arrested men's release.

Mr Yao's daughter, Yao Dan, told the AFP news agency: "Today, our family was mainly asking for a chance to see my father".

Key problem

The protests, which have been underway in Liaoyang and another north-eastern town for several weeks, are being closely watched to see how authorities react.

Crowds have gathered at Liaoyang's city government building

Such protests are rare, but they have become more common as China grapples with painful reforms of its state industry.

Earlier this month, up to 50,000 retired oil workers protested in the north-eastern town of Daqing. There have also been smaller demonstrations in the capital Beijing and in the south-western province of Sichuan.

The protests highlight a key problem in China's current welfare system - factories are often responsible not only for providing for their retired workers, but also for paying unemployment benefits to the same workers they have made redundant.

The government has acknowledged the problem poses a threat to social stability, and is in the process of setting up a national social security network.

The need has been made all the more urgent by fears that China's entry into the World Trade Organisation will lead to millions of new redundancies.

But setting up the new welfare system will take several years, and in some areas of the country, enterprises and local governments are currently struggling to keep up payments.

Suspicions of official corruption have exacerbated tensions among laid off workers.