Temporary worker

临时工 (lín shí gōng): temporary workers

In China, temporary workers are often used as a convenient scapegoat when something goes wrong. For example, several sponsors of the The Backbone Award withdrew their sponsorship of the award claiming that their original support was granted by forged documents created by “temporary workers.” See here (Chinese).

When chengguan officers severely beat a street vendor, the incident was blamed on “temporary workers.” See here (Chinese).

When a building was wrongfully demolished, the incident was blamed on “temporary workers” even though similar illegal demolitions occur regularly in China. See here (Chinese).