That's not entirely true. The China Labor Bulletin catalogs a few hundred strikes a year, some of which turn violent, and I guess there are many that even they don't hear about: https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate...

E.g. yesterday "Workers protest against wage arrears of an electronic factory after managers fled, in Yancheng, Jiangsu" https://maps.clb.org.hk/?i18n_language=en_US&map=1&startDate...

The Chinese government likes to pretend that they're in control of everything and Western media doesn't tend to question that. But authoritarian crackdowns are not a surefire tactic to prevent all protests, they can just reduce their frequency (maybe).

Which is it's own form of dog-whistle; "Use our country; our government will help make sure the workers don't protest"