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Study Links Working Conditions and Employee Suicide in Electronics Sector in China

On November 14, Hong Kong based Economic Rights Institute and Dutch NGO Electronics Watch released a report titled “The Link Between Employment Conditions and Suicide: A Study of the Electronics Sector in China.”

Using original Internet suicide reports, on-site surveys and off-site interviews, the study adopted three methodologies to “show how the employment conditions of some electronics firms in China heighten the risk of employee suicide.”

The report lists the main reasons for suicide, including using the suicide as a form of protest, hostile work environment, pressure from their superiors, withheld income, denied permission to resign or time off, and the fear of losing their jobs. It also pointed to the roles of employers and Chinese government in censoring and minimizing public reports of suicides.

The report suggests the need to:

“End ‘soft’ forms of forced labour, including forced overtime and restrictions of workers’ right to resign from their jobs without forfeiting their wages.

Abolish punitive forms of discipline and intervene effectively to prevent hostility and violence in the workplace.

Empower workers to collectively influence enterprise decisions connected to conditions that heighten risk of employee suicide, including productivity requirements, overtime and the structure of incentives.”

(This briefing serves as a correction of an earlier Chinascope briefing “Survey Shows High Suicide Rate in China’s Electronics Industry” at http://chinascope.org/archives/16748. The earlier briefing, sourced from Radio France International, did not support the statement that “the results showed that the suicide rate is extremely high among Chinese workers in the high-tech electronics industry.” The study also did not discuss a lack of unions or of independent unions as a cause of the suicides.)

Source: Electronics Watch, November 14, 2018
http://electronicswatch.org/en/links-between-working-conditions-and-employee-suicide-study-of-the-electronics-sector-in-china_2550232

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Oxford-Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research Opened in Suzhou City

On November 22, 2018, the Oxford-Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) celebrated its grand opening at the Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou City of Jiangsu Province.

Oxford University President Louise Richardson and Jiangsu Provincial Chinese Communist Party Committee Standing Committee member and the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee head, Zhou Naixiang, jointly unveiled OSCAR.

According to OSCAR’s website, “The Oxford-Suzhou Center for Advanced Research (OSCAR) will be the University of Oxford’s first overseas centre for physical science and engineering research, primarily expanding on activities from across the University’s Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Divisions.”

Oxford scholars in the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, and material science will lead the initial research programs. The applications will cover the research range from health information, tissue engineering, biomedical imaging, and environmental remediation, to advanced materials and electronic devices.

So far twelve Oxford scholars will be the lead principal investigators (PIs) and establish research projects. PIs will each spend two months every year at OSCAR to supervise the research.

The initial contact between Suzhou and Oxford University started in 2012. Cui Zhanfeng, the first Chinese tenured professor in the history of Oxford University, also the first dean of OSCAR, originally proposed the cooperation. The two parties signed a collaboration agreement in December 2016.

Source: The Paper, November 23, 2018
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2663211

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Radio Free Asia: Beijing’s Internal Documents Ask: “Tighten Your Belts”

Radio Free Asia reported on November 22, citing its own sources, that the Chinese Communist Party recently distributed an internal document to mid-level and above government agencies, asking them to prepare for the worst situations due to the ongoing trade war. The document told Chinese officials to follow the leadership of the CCP and rely on China’s own efforts in order to overcome the difficulties.

Different sources also pointed to the increased social panic due to the deterioration of the economic situation. The document also predicted that some Chinese companies will close down, that the stock market and the property market will fluctuate, and that social conflicts will arise.

“A number of observers pointed out that the domestic economy has continued to deteriorate while pressure from home and abroad has increased. Despite personally leading the team, Xi Jinping failed to achieve anything at the recently concluded APEC summit. The government is feeling the pressure. At the same time, it also shows that Chinese officials are pessimistic about the upcoming China-US summit.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 22, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/trade-11222018063712.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

2018 China-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Media Forum

The 2018 China-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Media Forum was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 19. The theme was “Deepening Media Cooperation and Supporting China – the LAC Community of a Shared Future.”

One of the topics of this forum was, “The role of the media in the pragmatic cooperation between China and Latin America.” Jose Juan Sanchez, president of Brazil’s CMA Group, said that the role of the media in bilateral cooperation is unparalleled. For a long time, the news in the Latin American region has basically come from Europe and the United States. This news is often filtered in advance, making it difficult for Latin American audiences to understand the truth of the events. “Now, the direct cooperation between the Chinese and Latin American media is getting closer and closer, and the people on both sides can get more and more first-hand information. This will undoubtedly contribute to the development of China-Latin America relations.”

Iary Gomez, general manager of the Costa Rican newspaper Diario Extra group, said that cooperation between China and Latin American media can promote cultural exchanges and enhance mutual understanding. The TV station under the Diario Extra group recently introduced two Chinese TV dramas. “They displayed Chinese culture, transformed people’s inherent perception of China, and achieved a big impact in Costa Rica.”

The China-Latin American and the Caribbean Countries Cooperation Plan (2015-2019) was formulated in January 2015. The plan mentioned that it supports the cooperation of the news media on both sides, encourages the exchange of resident reporters and joint interviews, and encourages the cooperation of influential online media from both sides in web portal development and new media capacity building.

Source: Xinhua, November 20, 2018
http://www.xinhuanet.com/2018-11/20/c_1123742459.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Beijing to Rate Individual Credit Scores and Regularly Publicize Blacklisted Individuals

On November 19, the “Beijing City Action Plan (2018-2020) for Further Optimization of the Business Environment” was released. It includes 22 major tasks and 298 action items. The Action Plan made it clear that the Beijing Municipal Social Credit Regulations will be completed by the end of 2020. By that time, the “Individual Credit Score” project covering all permanent residents will also be established. This means that Beijing will then truly launch the personal credit system. Everyone’s credit score will then impact his entire life.

According to the Action Plan, the city will promote the wide application of personal credit information in the fields of market access, public services, tourism travel, entrepreneurship and job hunting, and will provide convenience and a “green channel” for “trustworthy” individuals. In addition, it will improve the credit blacklist system and regularly publicize the bad records of companies and individuals. The purpose is to create a situation that “when a person’s credit is damaged somewhere, he will not be able to move a single step anywhere.” Those who violate the law and fail to be “trustworthy” will pay a hefty price.

Source: People’s Daily Online, November 20, 2018
http://finance.people.com.cn/n1/2018/1120/c1004-30410110.html

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Teachers in China Must Follow “Xi Jinping Thought”

The Chinese Ministry of Education recently issued ten guidelines on “professional behavior in the new era” for university, primary, and secondary schools and for kindergarten teachers nationwide. The Guidelines specified the standard for professional behavior and for a code of conduct for teachers. Still the top priority is to “strengthen the political direction, support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, and adhere to Xi Jinping Thought.”

The official releases included the “Ten Guidelines for the Professional Behavior of University and College Teachers in the New Era,” “Ten Guidelines for the Professional Behavior of Primary and Secondary School Teachers in the New Era,” and “Ten Guidelines for the Professional Behavior of Kindergarten Teachers in the New Age.”

The guidelines emphasize that individual teachers have relaxed their self-discipline, failed to perform their duties conscientiously, have even seriously violated the moral standard for teachers, and have damaged the overall image of the teaching staff.

Although the Ministry of Education emphasizes that the guidelines differ for the teaching staff in universities, primary and secondary schools, and kindergartens, the top items of the three guidelines are the same. “Have a firm political direction; adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; and implement the Party’s education policy. There will be no tolerance for speeches and for behavior that impairs the authority of the Party or violates the Party’s general and specific policies.”

Source: Radio France International, November 17, 2018
http://rfi.my/3LEK.T

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

China’s Cyber Authority Demands Self-Discipline from All Social Media Platforms

The Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and the Cyberspace Administration of China are two different names given to one single identity. The former is a department level body within the Chinese Communist Party system, a commission of the CCP’s Central Committee; the latter is a ministry level agency in the central government of China. Both names share the same abbreviation – CAC, which is China’s top authority regulating cyber affairs.

On November 14, the CAC met with a list of major Chinese social media — Baidu, Tencent, Sina, Toutiao, Sohu, NetEase, UC, idianzixun.com, Phoenix, and Zhihu. The CAC instructed these platforms to examine their user accounts comprehensively and to take corrective measures so that their user accounts follow an industry wide uniform standard. CAC also required each platform to perform a “cleanup” of the self-media accounts immediately and never allow the disciplined accounts to be “reborn” under another user name or achieve a “reincarnation” on another platform.

The ongoing campaign against social media started on October 20 and has “dealt with” 9,800 some accounts. The official reports said that the main issues are: A) spreading politically harmful information, maliciously tampering with the history of the Party and the nation, disparaging heroes, and damaging the image of the country; B) creating rumors, spreading false information, using sensational article titles, profiting from the spread of rumors, using false information to attract attention, and disturbing the normal social order; C) willfully spreading vulgar and pornographic information, disrupting the social order and traditions, challenging the moral bottom line, damaging the healthy growth of the young people; using a large number of self-media accounts for malicious marketing, adopting black PR (influential netizens hired to use postings to support or attack some companies), extortion, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of normal enterprises or individuals, challenging the bottom line of the law; D) willfully plagiarizing, attracting cyber fans by “washing articles” (make minor modifications of other’s original articles), fake web traffic, and disrupting the normal order of communication.

Most of the disciplined social media accounts are on Tencent’s WeChat and Sina’s Weibo platforms. CAC also stressed that “social media is by no means a lawless place.” “In the next step, CAC will work with other branches to strengthen inspection and supervision of the social media platforms. It will strictly investigate and punish the irresponsible and problematic companies, so that illegal social media accounts have nowhere to hide.”

CAC also issued the “Security Assessment Provisions for Internet Information Service with Public Opinion Attributes or Social Mobilization Capabilities,” which will be implemented on November 30. This regulation includes all of the following cyber services or functions into the category of being “with Public Opinion Attributes or Social Mobilization Capabilities” and scope of regulation: forums, blogs, microblogs, chat rooms, communication groups, public accounts, short videos, webcasts, information sharing, and small applications.

Source: Radio France International, November 16, 2018
http://rfi.my/3L7q

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

China Continues Active Investment in “Belt and Road” Countries

On November 15, the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said at a press briefing that China is continuing active investment cooperation with the countries along the “Belt and Road.” In the first ten months of this year, China made new additional investments in 55 countries along the “Belt and Road,” totaling US$11.9 billion, or a 6.4 percent growth on a year-over-year basis. The total contractual value of newly signed projects in the countries along the “Belt and Road” was US$80.91 billion, accounting for 48.1 percent of the total in the same period; the accomplished turnover of the new projects was US$65.33 billion, or 53.7 percent of the total.

In the first ten months of the year, Chinese investors conducted non-financial direct investment of US$89.57 billion in 4,905 overseas enterprises in 155 countries and regions, registering a year-on-year increase of 3.8 percent.

Source: Chinese Ministry of Commerce, November 15, 2018
http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/xwfbh/20181115.shtml

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend