Temporary worker

临时工 (lín shí gōng): temporary workers

A temporary worker shields permanent employees from a legal investigation.

“Temporary workers,” whoever they may be, are often used as a convenient scapegoat by officials. When several sponsors of the The Backbone Award withdrew their money, they claimed their support had been granted through documents forged by “temporary workers.” In January 2013, one netizen quipped that Beijing’s two million propaganda workers “outside the system” must be temporary workers.

“It was the temporary worker who forged these.”

An official leaves a trail of temporary workers’ vests as he flees the scene of his crime.

“He did it!” shrugs the chengguan.

A framed temporary worker walks the plank.

“It was all the temporary worker.”