[People News] At 9:40 p.m. on December 6, at Zhuhai Jinwan Airport.

After completing compensation for the last employee, Canon China President Hideki Koyama chose the latest flight of the day, hoping to quietly leave China, where he had worked for 35 years. Unexpectedly, as he stepped into the departure hall, more than 300 former Canon employees rushed past security and stormed in, causing the flight to be delayed by eighteen minutes.

Were they there to cause trouble?

On the contrary, they were there to plead with Hideki Koyama not to leave.

“President!” “Koyama-san!” “Please don’t go!”

Some knelt on the ground, some clung tightly to his sleeves, some cried so hard they couldn’t speak, only bowing repeatedly.

This rare scene moved me, and I believe it moved many others as well.

Why did they rush into the airport to beg Hideki Koyama not to leave?

The story begins with Canon’s wholly-owned enterprise in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province—Canon (Zhongshan)—which officially halted production on November 21.

After the shutdown, the generosity of Canon (Zhongshan)’s compensation to Chinese employees shocked the entire Chinese internet.

It is said that Canon issued compensation of “2.5N + 1” (N = years of employment). An employee who worked for 10 years could receive 26 months of salary—far exceeding the common N, N+1, 2N, N+X formulas prescribed in China’s Labor Contract Law.

Social media saw widespread sharing of compensation amounts: some employees received 400,000 yuan; a production-line team leader reportedly received 880,000 yuan; others posted bank notifications showing deposits of 630,000 yuan. Countless Chinese netizens expressed envy, commenting: “I want to work at Canon too,” “Canon, please come back,” “From now on, I’ll only buy Canon.” Many praised Canon as a “conscientious company,” saying its compensation set an industry benchmark.

Many Canon employees expressed their deep emotions online:

“I was a Canon assembly team leader, and I got 880,000. I’m really grateful!”

“Going home to retire! I was a cleaner at Canon for 12 years, and 300,000 arrived yesterday!”

“I worked at Canon for 16 years, and 460,000 arrived yesterday afternoon! Although I’m reluctant to leave, it’s fate—thank you, Canon…”

Just think: even Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s total assets equal only 1.6 million yuan. Yet a Canon team leader received 880,000 yuan in one round of compensation, and even a cleaner received 300,000. With such humanity and warmth, how could employees not be moved and grateful? And how could they bear to see such a humane president leave China?

By contrast, many Chinese companies are unwilling to even pay the legally required N+1 compensation, let alone voluntarily raise the standard. Netizens complain domestic companies “only know how to exploit,” “only compensate when employees threaten to jump from the roof,” forming a stark contrast with foreign companies that proactively pay in full.

Many global media outlets reported the scene of Canon employees tearfully begging the Japanese president not to leave China—yet all Chinese media chose silence!

Why silence? Because it humiliates Chinese companies. And humiliating Chinese companies is humiliating the CCP. So state media had no choice but to remain silent.

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