China's unemployment rate has hit its lowest point in multiple years at 3.95 percent by the end of September, but employment still face challenges as the econom

Social stratification, though an innate characteristic of any society, has become severe in both the U.S. and China. However, the sources of social stratification and the institutions that rectify it are different in China and the U.S.

As unusual as the recent detention of three labor activists in Jiangxi may seem, particularly given the case’s connection to the U.S. president’s daughter, it actually reflects broader trends related to labor rights in China. While new labor reform laws have yielded some positive results for Chinese workers, they’ve triggered new challenges. A strong response from the United States could not only help the men avoid prison, but also offer critical support to all Chinese workers.

Ivanka Trump’s brand was bruised when China detained several worker activists investigating her shoe brand. The specter of an independent labor movement both drives and constrains every facet of China's labor policy, both its reforms and its use of repression. Can China’s leaders get past the current period of rising – yet localized and non-political – labor unrest without going down the time-tested road of collective bargaining through independent trade unions?