It's being reported today that hundreds of workers joined protests at Foxconn's flagship iPhone plant in China, with some men smashing surveillance cameras and windows, footage uploaded on social media showed.

The rare scenes of open dissent in China mark an escalation of unrest at the massive factory in Zhengzhou city that has come to symbolize a dangerous build-up in frustration with the country's ultra-harsh COVID rules as well as inept handling of the situation by the world's largest contract manufacturer.

The trigger for the protests, which began early on Wednesday, appeared to be a plan to delay bonus payments, many of the demonstrators said on livestream feeds. The videos could not be immediately verified by Reuters.

"Give us our pay!" chanted workers who were surrounded by people in full hazmat suits, some carrying batons, according to footage from one video. Other footage showed tear gas being deployed and workers taking down quarantine barriers. Some workers had complained they were forced to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for COVID-19. I

In the video below, you'll have to manually start the video from the beginning to get the full scope of the riot. 

Foxconn said in a statement it had fulfilled its payment contracts and that reports of staff with COVID-19 living on campus were "untrue."

"Regarding any violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from happening again," the company added.

Former workers have estimated that thousands fled the factory campus. Before the unrest, the Zhengzhou plant employed some 200,000 people. To retain staff and lure more workers Foxconn has had to offer bonuses and higher salaries.

In the videos, workers vented about how they were never sure if they were going get meals while in quarantine or complained that there were inadequate curbs in place to contain an outbreak.

"Foxconn never treats humans as humans," said one person. For more on this, read the full Nikkei Asia report.

In another report published today by United Daily News, they cover Hon Hai's press release that noted that the Zhengzhou plant is in normal production and denied a number of rumors that are spreading online. 

It's unknown at this time if China Labor Watch is behind the rioting.  China Labor Watch has been fighting Apple and Foxconn for years. Here's one report that we posted back in 2019.