Report - 34. page

All Relevant units:

In order to build a green, healthy and harmonious Internet environment, to avoid youth being impacted by hazardous information from the Internet, according to provisions in the Government Procurement Law, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Central Civilization Office and the Ministry of Finance hereby jointly announce that the Central government will provide free usage of the Internet filtering software Green Dam Youth Escort (“Green Dam Youth Escort software”) for the nation. The central Treasury has funded the purchase of a one year right to use this software and its related services. Comprehensive tests and pilot applications have proven that such software can effectively filter unhealthy text and image content on the Internet; it is ready for pre-installation by computer manufacturers.

In order to further consolidate the achievement of rectifying against the low and degrading trends on the Internet, to protect the healthy growth of minors via both punishment and prevention, to promote sound and orderly development of the Internet, and to follow the national strategy of protecting against the low and degrading trends on the Internet, the following are the specific requirements for pre-installation of Green Internet filtering software on all computers.

1. All computers produced and sold inside China must pre-install the latest version of Green Dam Youth Escort software before they leave the manufacturer; all imported computers sold in China should pre-install the latest version of Green Dam Youth Escort software before they are sold.

2. Green Dam Youth Escort software must be pre-installed on the computer’s hard drive or the CD that comes with the computer, and also as back up files in the hard drive restoration system and recovery CD.

3. The provider of Green Dam Youth Escort software should take active measures to support computer manufacturers during the pre-installation.

4. All computer manufacturing and sales enterprises should complete all the related testing for Green Dam Youth Escort software pre-installation by the end of June 2009. All computers sold after July 1, 2009 should pre-install the Green Dam Youth Escort software.

5. All computer manufacturers and the Green Dam Youth Escort software provider should submit the sales volume of computers and the filtering software, along with any suggestions, each month to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The total annual sales of pre-installed filtering software for the previous year must be submitted before the end of February 2010.

For the computer manufacturers that do not pre-install the required software in time, do not report sales volume in time, submit false reports and/or refuse to report, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will order them to report and/or make required corrections within a limited time. 

The Education Foundation’s Second Letter [2009] No. 3

All provincial, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government Education Bureau (Board of Education), the Department of Finance (Bureau), the Information Office (Internet Management Office, Internet Publicity Office), all separately planned municipalities’ Department of Education, Financial Bureau, Information Office (Internet Management Office, Internet Publicity Office), the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp’s Bureau of Education, Finance Bureau, Information Office (Internet Management Office, Internet Publicity Office):

In order to better implement the scientific development concept, to comprehensively promote the quality of education in primary and secondary schools, to create a healthy and positive learning environment on the Internet for primary and secondary school students, and to purify the campus Internet environment, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Council Information Office (hereinafter referred to as the four departments) decided to provide free Internet filtering software for all primary and secondary school computers. The details of the notice are as follows:

First, the tasks and requirements:

1. All local educational administrative departments and primary and secondary schools must fully recognize the adverse impact of hazard information on the Internet to students, pay great attention to prevent and control adverse information on the campus network, and take effective measures to ensure a safe and healthy campus Internet environment in primary and secondary schools.

2. In order to prevent hazardous information from entering the campus network, the central government financed the purchase of Green Dam Youth Escort software for the free usage by primary and secondary schools to filter adverse information on the Internet. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is responsible for the download and user services of the Green Dam Youth Escort software. 

3. All local educational administrative departments should conscientiously implement the installation of the Internet filtering software, strengthen guidance and management, and designate responsible persons for this work, to ensure that all campus computers connected to the Internet install the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software before the end of May 2009. 

Second, installation and maintenance:

1. Each school should download and install the Green Dam Youth Escort Internet filtering software through the Internet. See the attached file for download and installation instructions.

2. The Internet filtering Team under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will send upgrade notices through the Internet for the Green Dam Youth Escort software; each school should update the campus computers to ensure the effective operation of the software.

3. Each primary and secondary school should include the maintenance of Green Dam Youth Escort software as part of its daily management. This work should have a high priority and a responsible person must be designated.

Third, inspection and guidance:

Local educational administration departments should periodically and randomly inspect the work of filtering hazardous Internet information on the campus network. After the installation of Green Dam Youth Escort software, the four departments will form a special inspection team to inspect the installation and operation of the software by each primary and secondary school.

Appendix: Green Dam Youth Escort software download and installation instructions

The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Council Information Office

April 1, 2009

Large-scale Pre-installation Is Being Carried Out

According to information disclosed on the Lvhang web page, some personal computer manufacturers have begun the pre-installation. On May 18, the web page announced that “PC manufacturers Green Dam pre-installation training is fully implemented.”

……

Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information technology indicate that by the end of March this year, there were about 95 websites in China offering free download of the Green Dam Youth Escort software. The software was downloaded about 3,266,800 times; about 2,279 schools installed the software on about 518,300 campus computers; about 6,957 websites installed the software; a total of 1,163,500 computers completed the installation.

According to media reports, including the countryside home appliance market, the total installation of Green Dam software is as much as about 52.7 million units.

■ Background

All primary and secondary schools installed the Green Dam software

Prior to requiring that all computers pre-install the Green Dam software, the Ministry of Education required that all primary and secondary schools nationwide install the software on campus computers connected to the Internet.

Prior to this, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Council Information Office jointly studied the campus promotion strategy for Internet filtering software programs. On April 1 of this year, it issued The Notice to Install Internet Filtering Software for All Primary and Secondary School Campus Networks. The Notice states, “to create a healthy and positive learning environment on the Internet for primary and secondary school students,” all local education administration departments should conscientiously implement the installation of the Internet filtering software, “to ensure that all campus computers connected to Internet install the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software before the end of May 2009.”

The notice requires primary and secondary schools to include the maintenance of Green Dam Youth Escort software as part of daily management, and to designate a specific responsible person. It also requires local education administration departments randomly to inspect the work of filtering hazardous Internet information on the campus network.  In the meantime, the four departments will form a special inspection team to inspect the installation and operation of the software by each primary and secondary school.

Earlier, the software was tested in some primary and secondary schools in Guizhou, Henan and some other provinces and cities. Relevant authorities concluded that the software was effective.

All Computers in the Countryside Home Appliances Program Pre-installed the Green Dam Software

The Green Dam software has been servicing many computers that farmers received in the countryside home appliances programs. It is reported that “all computers sent to the countryside were installed with corresponding information filtering and protection software when conditions permitted. The most popular filtering software installed is called the Green Dam Youth Escort software.”

It is reported that this was mainly to help the “farmers who had limited experience with computers” to avoid computer viruses problems and thus to reduce the burden of after-sales services. “At this moment the importance of information filtering is highlighted.”

News reports in March disclosed all Lenovo computers sent to the countryside were pre-installed with the Green Dam software. Later computers sent by Founder, the Great Wall, the Wave, Tsinghua Tongfang, and Haier will also be installed with the Green Dam software.

Endnotes:
[1] The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, http://www.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/n11293832/n11293952/12398220.html
[2] The Hubei Province Education Information website,
http://xxdt.e21.cn/e21web/content.php?id=469
[3] Nanfang Metropolitan Daily, June 9, 2009, http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/nfjx/200906090005.asp

Three decades have passed since China implemented the Reform and Open-up policies. A large number of people have become millionaires. These many wealthy people have enjoyed the most luxurious food, drink, and fun, plus all of the benefits of abundant wealth. Yet, these men of wealth are successively emigrating overseas. What are the reasons? For the answer to this question, we need to analyze the following three aspects:

I. How Did These Millionaires Come into Being?

Mr. Yang Jisheng, once, described in detail in his speech on how these wealthy Chinese came into being. He explained, “China’s Reform policies made the national income gap between the rich and the poor widen significantly. There are normal and abnormal reasons for this disparity. The annual-high-income families in major cities and towns have a great deal of gray income, which is the main reason for the increase in their annual income. The sources of their gray income are listed below:

The Loss of Public Money, Including Government Funds, Social Security and State-Owned Assets:
 
In those instances where the Central Government invested in projects, the funds that were targeted for use in those projects were passed on to each level of the underlying contractors (the middlemen). When the funds actually got to  the projects themselves, what remained was less than 1/3 of the original appropriation.

Corruption exists at all levels of financial institutions. The loan recipients need not only to pay for the regular interest on the loan; but also for the extra fees that go to the pockets of the lending officials. The total amount of extra charges may be as high as 9 percent of the total loan amount. It was estimated in 2006 that the total of all kinds of loans from all the financial institutions in China amounted to 22 trillion yuan (US$3.2 trillion).

 The extra income, “the gray income,” was given to the officials of the national financial institutions. The administrative license to rent or sell land and issue approvals has resulted in a substantial loss of land revenue: In the year 2005, 40.3 acres of government-owned land was rented out, 1/3 of it were auctioned off and the price was much less than with other types of rent: A total value of 540 billion yuan (US$78.9 billion) was lost using this means. [ed: resulting in kickbacks to bank officials and huge windfalls to the “winning” bidder]

Those government officials who have amassed power and influence through nepotism or bribery have made enormous profits from monopolization. Business transactions have been ongoing between powerful government monopoly traders and the general traders who have less power. Those in power in the government control the prices of resources on market. For instance, with regard to land, the government uses administrative means to centralize, amassing land by buying it at a low price, and then selling the land to developers at a high price.

The income to monopolies: According to 2005 data, the mean wage and the extras from regular income of an industry worker in the electric power, telecommunications, petroleum, finance, water, electric power, tobacco and other monopoly industries is 5 to10 times more than the average income of a national everyday worker. Monopoly industries make use of the nation’s resources to further their business interests. The Chinese monopoly industries are basically administrative, or government monopolies.

…

 I used to call those who made a killing by using government power, “The Red-Cap Businessmen,” since they amassed their profits as a result of power gained from their association with the government. During the Reform and Open-up period, the Four Peak Times of wealth accumulation for “the Red-Cap Businessmen,” were as follows:

1. The First-Peak Time, the State Monopoly and the Initial-Open Period (mainly, the State-monopoly on the import of goods): Before 1994, under the official exchange rate, the currency value of the Renminbi (RMB) was overestimated. Therefore, one earned a great deal of money as he imported goods from overseas and sold them at home. People with a powerful background could get import permits for goods from overseas. The children of prominent officials filled their pockets with import permits. When the import permits changed hands, they became millionaires. They don’t just own villas on the hillside in Hong Kong; they keep race horses and yachts.

2. The Second-Peak Time, the Period of the Double-Track Price System: This occurred from 1984 to 1993. In 1987, the difference in the prices in the Double-Track Price System for goods, capital and foreign exchange reached up to 200 billion yuan (US$29.2 billion), and made up almost 20 percent of the national income for 1997. In 1988, the disparities between the prices in the Double-Track Price System for common goods, capital and foreign exchange reached 356.9 billion yuan (US$52.2 billion,). That income was almost 30 percent of the national income in 1998.
 
3. The Third-Peak Time, the Period of Financial Capital: In the stock market, the amount paid for an the Initial Public Offerings (IPO), the determination of the price for new stocks on the market, and the ability to manipulate the stock market provided those “Red-Cap Businessmen” with huge gains. The ability to lease land and the power to demolish the old, and build the new in the real-estate market, also provided them with abundant opportunities.

4. The Fourth-Peak Time, the Period of the Restructure of the State-owned Assets: After 1997, China began the large-scale restructuring of state-owned assets. In succession, many state-owned enterprises gradually pulled out from those competitive businesses. This provided an unprecedented golden opportunity for the dramatic development of the private economy. In some areas and in some of the enterprises, the restructuring of state-owned assets became a disguised form of carving up of the state-owned assets. Among them, the practice of the Management Buyout (MBO) made many managers of the state-owned enterprises billionaires overnight. “The Red-Cap Businessmen” amassed more wealth than during these Four-Peak Times (some of which often overlapped each other). They have become bolder and have employed brighter and cleverer ways to amass profits. We just don’t know how many billionaires were generated in China during these Four-Peak Times.

From all the above contents in Mr. Yang’s speech, we clearly understand how these wealthy Chinese came into being. They worry that they may not always be able safeguard their property in China, since most of their ill-gotten wealth was acquired from unknown origins. It goes without saying; they’d naturally desire to emigrate abroad.

II. The Changes in International and Domestic Circumstances Drive These Wealthy Chinese to Emigrate Overseas
 
Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the dramatic changes that took place in Eastern Europe, the International Communist Movement has been at an all time low. The United States of America led a group of supremacists (elitists), who actively implemented expansionist policies, and ceaselessly provoked armed conflicts around the world to create utter confusion, so the current international situation has been extremely unstable. At home, some groups of corrupt officials, acting in cahoots with the domestic and overseas capitalists, went along with their evil deeds, abusing their power and stealing the public wealth without restraint. They have wasted domestic natural resources, seized and occupied the common people’s properties, undermined the unity of members of the Party and the common people, undermined the unity of the key group and the common people and created dissension in the form of social conflicts and social crises.

Being the mainstream wealthy Chinese, the group of bureaucratic capitalists and the capitalist reps knew clearly that if the situation continued like this, they would get themselves into big trouble or stir up dramatic political changes. They knew clearly that, no matter how the social circumstance varied and no matter whether China would find its way to Capitalism or Socialism, their personal interests would be strongly impacted. Therefore, they refused to go down without a fight and thought of emigrating as soon as possible, rather than staying at home and doing nothing.

III. The Wealthy Chinese’ Own Political, Moral and Psychological Qualities Are the Determining Factor for Them to Emigrate Overseas

Most of the Chinese millionaires are the descendants of aristocratic families of high-ranking officials. Their ancestors, or their fathers, had high-ranking government posts with high political positions in Chinese society. Although during the10 years of the “Cultural Revolution,” their fathers lost out a little bit; yet, the implementation of Reform and Open-up brought them very advantageous political and economic positions. Deng Xiaoping said that the policies allowed some of people to have the priority to become rich. Then, 30 years later, the people who had the priority to become rich were those people who were in favorable positions and gained special advantages.

These kinds of people are actually the new-money in today’s Chinese society. Their political, moral and psychological qualities are quite inferior and low-grade. During the so-called “Unrest Time,” since they suffered from negative political impact, as a result, they were naturally and especially hostile to and avoided Mao Zi Dong’s revolutionary line. Since they worry very much that Chinese society will be in a turbulent situation as it was previously; therefore, they made use of the power in their hands and the mass media to slander and criticize Mao Zi Dong’s revolutionary line. They have also resisted and suppressed the currently existing model of socialism’s massive collectives. They attempted to change their country into a colony of Capitalism.

However, inside the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), leftists are still a strong force. They have never given up their battle for their viewpoints and principles. They keep waging a blow-for-blow fight against Rightists, and their existence threatens the political and the economic positions of the vested interests.

The force of the leftists and the high-ranking officials of the CCP members have tried their best to safeguard the political characteristics of Chinese Socialism, and to uncover the plot of peaceful evolution (from socialism back to capitalism) that the groups of Imperialists overseas and the Rightists at home have conspired to bring about. The rich Chinese believe that as long as China doesn’t change its socialist state-owned politics, their private property cannot be protected at home. To safeguard their vested interests and their aristocratic positions, they have to choose to emigrate overseas.

The above speech stands only for the personal perspective of the author himself, and thus cannot stand for the perspective of the Global Times.

Endnote:
[1] Website of Global Times, February 17, 2009
http://bbs.huanqiu.com/shidaizhongguo/thread-161424-1-1.html

The Xiao Xia Who Does Not Want to Go Home

“Here you see people and cars everyday; at home you can only see pigs and ox-wagons. Would you go home if you were me?”

– By reporter Wang Daqi and intern reporter Li Shaoqing, from Dongguan

At Dongguan Industrial Park, there was a giant red board in front of a toy factory announcing jobs.  A group of migrant workers were talking next to the board, yet no one dared to go inside. Xiao Xia was one of them. He was looking at the board, “Room and board covered, monthly salary 800 yuan.”

“Is it a trap?” Xiao Xia talked to the reporters, thinking they were also unemployed workers like him. “I look too young. I am afraid that they will not hire me. Why don’t you go in first, you could say that the three of us are together. That way it will be easier (for me to be hired).”

Xiao Xia, a sixteen year old boy with his hair dyed yellow, left his hometown in Henan Province and came to Dongguan more than two years ago. He worked at a radio factory before. “(The job was easy.) All you needed to do was to stick all the parts on to a circuit board.” Xiao Xia said the work was a bit boring, but he got paid more than 1000 yuan a month. “We were paid for each piece completed, as long as we finished our quota each day, that’s it.  If I worked more, I would get overtime pay, 5 yuan for each hour.”  Xiao Xia was good at the work. He could often finish his quota ahead of time and then go back to sleep.

Last January, the boss told Xiao Xia and his friends that he had to deduct one month worth of their wages because they “did not obey the management and were involved in fighting.”  Xiao Xia told the reporters, “As a matter of fact, the boss was running out of money, so he looked for excuses not to pay us. We fought before but the boss never cared. We did not sign any contract with the factory and we are responsible for our own fighting. Why should the boss deduct money from our wages?”

Xiao Xia and his friends went on strike for a week.  Finally the boss agreed to pay their wages, but the condition was that they had to leave.  Xiao Xia and three other people left the factory, one of them went back to his hometown in Henan Province. Xiao Xia and the other two are still at Dongguan looking for jobs.

When Xiao Xia and the reporters went inside the toy factory the manager and director were both there.  They told the reporters and Xiao Xia, “Our boarding rooms are full now, so we stopped hiring temporarily. You can fill out a form and we will contact you when we start hiring again.”

Walking out of the toy factory, Xiao Xia was calm. He told the reporters that he has been looking for more than a month and filled out more than a dozen forms like this. Many places only look for skilled workers, some only look for women, there is no demand for unskilled general labor.

This is very common in Dongguan.  Under the global financial crisis, all factories are looking for ways to cut costs. Female workers eat less and are more careful at work. They are also easier to manage than male laborers.

Xiao Xia said he had used an employment broker before. They “guaranteed to find a job.” After paying 100 yuan to the broker, Xiao Xia was sent to a factory as a janitor where he had to pay another 50 yuan before starting work at the factory.  Several days later, the factory asked Xiao Xia to show them his contract. Then, they tore the contract into pieces in front of Xiao Xia and fired him blaming he “did not work hard.” Xiao Xia said he did not trust any employment brokers any more.

Yet Xiao Xia is quite confident. “I changed several jobs before, but back then everyone was hiring. I believe the companies still need labor. I will keep looking. The worst case is do temporary work.” Xiao Xia said he likes to do temporary work, as you get paid every day, and you are free to leave at anytime.

Xiao Xia brought the reporters to the factory that just fired him, “they are still hiring.”

Xiao Xia hid away watching the reporters walk through the low ceiling aisle by smelly, dirty water and going up three stories of stairs full of mold. We heard the machines and saw a big warehouse full of young workers busy sewing. No one looked at us.

The wife of the boss came over with a baby on her back and looked at us suspiciously. She told us the job offer: monthly wages of 900 yuan but no boarding. We found an excuse and left.

Xiao Xia has an older brother at Houjie, Dongguan working as a driver. He will not lose his job since he has the skill of driving. However, Xiao Xia does not want to live with his brother, because his brother tried to discipline him. “Last year I fought with people from the next door factory, when my brother found out about it, he took away the knife that I bought for more than 20 yuan. I had a big argument with him and never went back.”

Local residents said there are many young people wandering around the streets lately. Many people do not dare to go outside at night now, as people are worried that the town is no longer safe.

When talking about his future, Xiao Xia said he would stay in Dongguan by working temporary jobs. To him, it is not just the matter of making money; he cannot stand living in the countryside, as compared with life in the city.

“Here you see people and cars everyday; at home you can only see pigs and ox-wagons. Would you go home if you were me?”

Endnote:
[1] “The Xiao Xia Who Does Not Want to Go Home,” Nanfang People Weekly, April 13, 2009
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/rwzk/20090413/gj/200904240009.asp

We Want to Work

Half a year ago, Guo Xiaoming and his two friends were coworkers at a Taiwan-joint-venture factory. With the closure of the factory, their fates also changed.

– By reporter Liu Zichao from Dongguan

“Left with Nothing Overnight”

Holding his bike, Guo Xiaoming stands outside the gate of the Tianhua Furniture Factory with sweaty under arms. Here is Humen Town, Dongguan. Under the scorching sun, the green factory building seems spacious but lonely. Many times, when he passed here at dusk, he kept noticing the palm trees close by the gate already withered and cobwebs collecting dust.

“I had worked here for eleven years.” He told the gate guard. Then he lit a cigarette as if he was waiting for the arrival of tomorrow.

Now, Guo Xiaoming, 37, is working in the Xingyi Glass Factory as a quality inspector. His salary is less than half of his previous job. He started working in the Tianhua Furniture Factory in 1997. Before the factory was closed, he was a supervisor at the packaging group, earning more than 3,000 yuan every month.

Guo Xiaoming recalled, last October, when the surrounding shoe factories and electronics factories were closed, the workers at Tianhua felt lucky that their products were for the U.S. Although there were some changes for this big 20-year-old Taiwanese factory, nobody believed that it would collapse suddenly.

One Sunday afternoon, the news of the factory owner’s departure started spreading among more than six hundred workers. When Guo Xiaoming rushed to the factory, he saw the angry suppliers were just about to take away the machines as compensation for the debt. "It came so abruptly, we did not believe it was true." Guo said.

Finally, the Ludong Village Committee in Humen Town took over the Tianhua Factory and paid off workers’ wages. That afternoon, in the factory field, a long row of tables was laid out. The workers lined up by their departments to receive their last salaries. The loud speakers kept telling workers who received their salaries to leave the factory.

The young workers left after receiving the money. But Guo Xiaoming felt sad. At a small restaurant outside the factory, over a dozen veteran workers who had worked there for more than ten years sat down in silence. They looked like fearful youth who did not know where to go.

"After all I had worked here for so many years," Guo Xiaoming said, “It seems that nothing is left overnight.”

Like Guo Xiaoming, Zhou Rongqin began working in Tianhua in the 90’s. He tried to stay in Dongguan but all the jobs he found only paid a few hundred yuan per month which was not enough to support the family. What he worried about the most was his son, who was in his third year (last year) of middle school.

 “I want him to continue with school so that he will not end up like me.” Zhou said, “But that requires a lot of money.”

Zhou Rongqin had to go back to his hometown, Qinzhou City, Guangxi Province. He works on temporary jobs to make a living. His wife was a worker in Tianhua as well. Now she becomes a housewife without any income.

“I have worked so many years. According to the law, one year of work experience would be compensated with a month of salary. I suppose that I could get seventy to eighty thousand yuan severance pay.” Zhou talked to us over the phone from Guangxi, “we have sued Tianhua Factory. But the village committee had taken out over one million from their pocket to pay the workers. Nobody knows how much we can get from the auction of the factory’s property.”

Another worker, Xiao Pingliang, had worked in Tianhua for 18 years. He started to feel the fear of not being connected to the world for so long. Now, the life he used to live became something far away in his memory.

“I worked in the furniture factory for over ten years, almost twenty years. I had almost never left Dongguan during that time,” Xiao Pingliang said, “Now, I am almost 40 and have to leave here. I feel incompetent.”

Life without a Job

In the days without work, Guo Xiaoming would buy a newspaper and sit in the residential square. After reading the newspaper, he went to the factory and circled around there. Sometimes, he would stare at the seal at the factory gate for a long time.

One day, when he was watching international news on TV, he saw a room with furniture just like Tianhua’s products. He jumped excitedly to call his wife to come and see. But then his heart suddenly sunk with the painful realization that Tianhua no longer existed.

For Guo Xiaoming, over ten years of life working in the factory was just like a dream. When he woke up from that long dream, he still faced the pressure of making a living. He likes to recall his life as a young man.

At that time, he and his friends processed fast-food chopsticks for three to four years in Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The raw chopsticks were shipped from Daxing’anling, Heilongjiang Province, one container after another. They processed them and sold them to local restaurants.

Every day at dusk, he rode his tricycle through many streets in Guiling City. Sometimes when he slept late at night, he would be woken up by phone calls the next morning, urging him to deliver the chopsticks. Though life was hard he didn’t really feel much hardship.

He liked to roller skate. One day, at the ice rink he met a girl who worked in an ice-cream parlor. From then on, hand in hand, their mellow lives flew by. That girl became his wife.

In 1997, since Guo Xiaoming didn’t have the temporary residence permit to live in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, he had to hide to avoid being caught by the police. The inspector always showed up at late night. When he heard noise, he had to jump out the window. Once when he hid in the bushes by the river, he fell asleep and fell into the river, almost getting himself killed.

His wife felt sorry for him, “Let’s not to live a life in hiding like this anymore. All right?”

Now, these low feelings were vanishing. Without a job, Guo Xiaoming felt the pressure of surviving. When a fellow from his hometown who also lost his job invited him to join a casino business in Shunde City, Guangdong Province, he decided to take the risk.

Guo secretly took out twenty thousand yuan that he saved over years and joined the business. They rented a room at a top-class hotel and provided room and meal for their customers coming for gambling. In return, they collected a portion from the customers’ gambling money. Guo said that their most profitable night was an income of 120,000 yuan. However, they had to spend more than half of their money on the gangsters and police to stay in business.

The two months he spent on this business felt longer than two years. Guo Xiaoming learned how to gamble and run a loan shark business. He slept through the day but woke up horrified by the dream of being caught by the police. He called home a few times but he had a bad temper and shouted at his wife. After he hung up, he blamed himself deeply.

Finally he took his investment and left. After the Chinese New Year, when he was walking in the snow in his hometown in Hunan Province, he decided to come back to Dongguan. “I want to find a normal job as long as it is enough to make a living.” He said, “(I have been here for) eleven years, this is the place I am most familiar with.”

Drifting, Drifting

For the unemployed workers who worked outside their hometown all year round, the hometown is not as warm as it used to be. With the urbanization of their homeland, much of the farmland was lost – this is one of the reasons why Xiao Pingliang decided to continue drifting outside his hometown.

Xiao has been living at the Tianhua factory for more than ten years. He worked all days but one every month and rarely leaves the Road East community in Humen Town. Xiao Pingliang is very accustomed to the world here, but overnight, he found that his position disappeared in the city where he had lived for more than a decade. The financial crisis in a far far away world suddenly threw him out of his track. It is not easy to find another job nearby; it feels like a pebble in his shoe, every step brings pain.

“I don’t dare to work for a small company; I am worried that the company will also go bankrupt,” said Xiao Pingliang. “There is no job security in a small company, it could go belly up tomorrow and no one cares about you.”

In this financial turmoil, the "world factory" was deeply hurt. Many large plants closed overnight, the remaining ones are struggling to survive by cutting staff and costs. According to the statistics released on March 3 by Guangdong Provincial Department of Labor and Social Security, there were 9.46 million migrant workers who came to Guangdong Province after the Chinese New Year, of which 460,000 are unemployed.

"I visited Dongguan job market also," said Xiao Pingliang, "but jobs offered there are mostly for white-collar workers."

"I still would like to work for a furniture factory. I have 10 years of work experience, I feel competent working in this field." However, it is a difficult time for the furniture industry in Dongguan. At Houjie Township of Dongguan city, the so-called "furniture capital of the East," a survey conducted by the local Department of Labor shows that the furniture industry is running only at 60% of its capacity. After failing to find a good job, many people lowered their expectations. Having lost hope of finding a job in Dongguan, Xiao Pingliang went to Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province where his brother is residing.

Guo Xiaoming stayed in Humen. He saw the job announcement of fifteen positions by Xingyi glass factory. By the time Guo Xiaoming got there, there were more than one hundred people already waiting for interview. They filled a large gymnasium. The first step of the interview was to check everyone’s ID, then an exam of general knowledge (including writing the names of the authors of four famous Chinese novels). After that, everyone had to do push-ups – the glass factory jobs involve heavy labor.

Guo fell on the floor at his 26th push-up. The HR person said, “You are older than most others and have a family, I will count four more for you as a present.”

Guo Xiaoming said he always wanted to find a chance to thank that person and show his gratitude. Compared with his coworkers who are still unemployed, Guo said he felt lucky.

“This is a hopeless situation. So many big banks in America went bankrupt. When the big river dried up, little streams would dry up too.” Guo Xiaoming said, “Once I saw on TV that many American people could not afford a lot of things that they used to buy during Christmas time. Comparing their situation and mine, I felt a bit of comfort, yet it still seems not so comfortable.”

Today, Guo Xiaoming is doing everything he can to cut costs. He moved from an apartment that costs 240 yuan per month to one that only cost 180 yuan. He had bought a pair of “Anta” brand sneakers before but he would not buy them anymore. He spends his evening time at community square watching elderly people singing and dancing as entertainment.

Guo could not stop himself from missing the good old days at the bankrupted Tianhua factory. “The boss is nice. He was never late paying us for over ten years. Coworkers are nice to each other too. There was not much stress at work. What else could you want? I thought I would stay there forever.”

In more than ten years, people like Guo Xiaoming stayed at the same place doing the same work. They built the same routine. Today as the world of Tianhua factory collapsed, all of sudden they found themselves in an unclear position. They were pushed forward, but do not know where to go.

At the Guangzhou Train Station, Xiao Pingliang stayed at a corner waiting for his brother. He was tired and nervous, he felt relieved when he saw his brother coming on his bicycle. He went through the crowd and carefully got on the back of his brother’s bike, they disappeared in the crowded and noisy city.

Endnote:
[1] “We Want to Work,” Nanfang People Weekly, April 13, 2009
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/rwzk/20090413/gj/200904240013.asp

What is happening in Dongguan? What will migrant workers do as jobs disappear? [2]
 
Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, the base of China’s export-oriented enterprises, grew to be “the world manufacturing factory,” by undertaking a large number of manufacturing and processing industries transferred from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Due to its close proximity to Hong Kong and blessing of China’s Reform and Opening-up policy, Dongguan has become a microcosm of China during the globalization of the free market economy. To some extent, “made in China” is an alias of “manufactured in Dongguan.”

During a short span of 30 years, Dongguan has grown from a little-known small agricultural county, to a very important city in the south of Guangdong Province. In 2007, Dongguan, with a resident population of only 6.5 million people in the prefecture scale, was nearly as rich as a normal province in China, with a GDP over 300 billion Yuan.
 
However, faced with the financial crisis in the United States starting in the second half of 2008, Dongguan also felt the piercing cold. On many public occasions, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said what he worried about most was Guangdong province. Since September of last year, newspapers have been reporting that Dongguan was “becoming hollow inside,” with a loss of core industries and production slowing down to screeching halt. Wen Jiabao has visited Guangdong four times within just a few months near the end of last year. Dongguan became more than a local economy, but rather a focal point for him to better understand all of China’s economy.

What is going on in Dongguan? Do those migrant workers who had worked there come back after a short trip home (for Chinese New Year)? Do they find jobs after coming back? What should the second generation migrant workers who grew up in the urban fringe but don’t want to go back to farmland do?

In a sense, observing Dongguan and observing whether those off-farm workers can find jobs is not only a benchmark to explore whether China’s economy has hit the bottom and is ready to rise, but also a critical step to see whether China can achieve its smooth transition (to a balanced, less export-dependent economy) and truly build up a "harmonious society."
 
Let us start from a group of people in Dongguan including factory owners, adult migrant workers, and the young second-generation migrant workers. Perhaps this critical moment in their lives represents a turning point for tens of millions of people in Dongguan.
 
 Chen Jingchi, the Village Chief on the Run to Put out Fires [1]
– By reporter Wang Daqi and intern reporter Li Shaoqing, from Dongguan

At noon, our car was running on the spacious road, with the shops on both sides pulling down their metal gates. A few patrons sat sparsely at the entrances of sporadically opening restaurants. The iron gates of the surrounding factories were locked, and only one or two security guards sat bored in front of the factories, entertaining themselves with their cell phones.

Our car turned onto a small street, going through the gate of a leather processing factory. We went upstairs following the factory manager.

“Originally, there were so many workers crowding the room from wall to wall. The endless orders could not be finished on time so they had to be contracted out to some small workshops. However, now you can see that all stopped. Originally, the number of workers in the factory was 800, but now it diminished to around 100.”

Chen Jingchi, the chief of Jiuxibian village, also the manager of the factory felt somewhat depressed when standing in the once clamorous factory, which now stood empty.

Chen Jingchi, a native of Dongguan, is commonly known as the "landlord" by the media. Dongguan was the great base of “made in China.” Almost all the local residents made money by renting out workshops. Because they were able to make a fortune on the spot, they spent most of their time eating, drinking and enjoying except for regular rent collection times.

Smart people established their own factories. Village chief Chen also has his own leather factory, restaurant and hotel. He could earn 4,000 yuan per month by collecting rent from tenants. The rent of the workshops was even calculated by millions of yuan.

In addition, as the village head, he must bear responsibility for the villagers’ dividends. In the past it was said, “The redder (due to wine-drinking) the village chief’s face is, the more dividends the villagers get.” But now he has to think twice even to eat at his own restaurant. The first reason is that the social activities have decreased, and the second reason is that the villagers’ dividends are big issues this year. So many people are staring at him. As a village chief for seven years, he doesn’t dare to eat there.

From Mr. Chen’s experience, we can find that it is not an easy job to be a village chief in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Province. He has multiple roles to play with and had to switch hats when communicating with higher up or lower levels. He often goes to meetings in the morning and then collects the rent at factory in the afternoon. He needs not only to take care of his own business but also to resolve the villagers’ disputes. Since the financial crisis began, he often finds himself in the center of the storm, endlessly entangled with all kinds of contradictions and conflicts.

Because of his position, he has not only firsthand experience but also a much soberer realization of the current situation about global economic crisis’ impact on the local economy than other people.

"I Have to Take Pain-Relievers Every Night"

There are two million permanent residents, and even up to eight million off-farm workers in Dongguan. The factory closure and layoff triggered by the financial tsunami, as well as the exodus of a large number of migrant workers have given rise to a chain reaction of other industries. The recession of the manufacturing industry depresses other industries as well.

“I think the government should, without discrimination, give more support to the small and medium sized enterprises under the current circumstances, not only provide support to the so-called high-tech and leading enterprises.” said Chen Jingchi.

In response to the financial crisis, Dongguan city government stipulates that the enterprises which lay off more than ten people must be registered to the relevant departments. If the enterprises are unable to settle financial disputes with the migrant workers after closure, the village committee where the enterprise is located should pay the money in advance. The villages will be compensated after the auction of the enterprises’ assets.

Chen Jingchi said: “The reality is that most of the factories going through lay-offs are struggling. If the factories don’t lay off workers, they have to shut down themselves eventually. Although the bankrupting factories have some equipment to auction, with so many factories shutting down, who will buy the equipments? They can only be sold as waste products. The price of waste products is so low this year that the scrap metal sells for slightly more than 4 yuan per pound. The money collected by the equipment auction is just a drop in the bucket.”

Mr. Chen told the reporters that he had received a fax from Hong Kong last month, with only two lines on it: “I have to shut down the factory because I was unable to operate it.” The sender was the boss who leased the village’s workshop.

When seeing such words, his mind went blank. Finally, he gathered himself to face the reality. He went to the factory with a megaphone in hand to appease the crowd. Under mounting pressure, he took out 2 million yuan from the village committee as the severance pay for the employees. He estimated that the abandoned factory’s equipments were only worth a few hundred thousands yuan. His village had to eat up the loss.

"The money originally belongs to all the villagers. How do we protect our villagers’ interests when using that money to pay for the workers’ salaries?” Chen Jingchi felt that under these circumstances, "the Government should not rob Peter to pay Paul." “After all, it is not a permanent solution to sacrifice the interests of one group to satisfy the interests of another."

Chen Jingchi also told the reporters: "It is good for Dongguan to advocate the industrial transition (from export-oriented labor intensive industries to balanced intellectual property protected industries), but the reality is that there are more than three hundred thousand processing and manufacturing enterprises in Dongguan with nearly eight million employees and a huge revenue. It is not something that can be easily transitioned as you want. For example, our village had one million rent income from these factories every year in the past. Now the biggest factory was closed and another one owes us 12 months’ rent. Three hundred thousand yuan income disappears for our village. If other factories continue to shut down, the consequences would be unimaginable. "

Seeing the factories shutting down one by one and workshops not being able to rent out, Chen Jingchi’s heart is torn. "I have to take pain-reliever every night" to alleviate the worsening headache. He said, “I have stomach bleeding due to overdoses of medicine.” This year, Chen Jingchi reduced the workshop rent to 8,000 yuan from 12,000 yuan per square meter. The store rent was down to 700 yuan from 1,500 yuan. But there still half not rented out.

Chen’s leather factory also had a large layoff, but he didn’t register with the government. Chen argued: “Layoff is the normal behavior of the enterprise. I am not in arrears with salaries, therefore it is not necessary to register.”

 In Chen Jingchi’s view, the layoff is inevitable, "We all had a comfortable life several years ago, and anyone could open a factory to make money. Factories with dozens of people are everywhere. The orders were flooding and the big enterprises could not fulfill all of them, so they contracted out to these small factories. All factories hired workers crazily.

Now the orders at the large enterprises diminish and the small enterprises don’t have orders at all. They have to make some much lower level products. All of us have excess employees in the past. It now results in the vicious cycle. "

The effect must have its cause. Chen Jingchi doesn’t think that the government should put all the employment pressure on business. “Transition is not a slogan. It needs more practical actions (from the government).”

Now there is only one production line in operation in Chen’s factory. It produces the environmental protection bags, much simpler and more practical than the previous produced high-end hand-made schoolbags and suitcases. Chen Jingchi said the orders are the most important thing, the actual product does not matter, as long as he can pay his people salaries.
 
Finally, he told reporters that the factory would last up to August at most in accordance with the current situation. He would have to shut down his factory if the economic environment doesn’t improve.
 
“The Owners Are Working on Orders”

Jianhua Hardware Ornament factory which has been in arrears with 12 months’ rent mentioned by Chen Jingchi, is located at Jiuxibian village, Dongcheng District, just at the junction of urban and rural areas of Dongguan.

The scale of the privately-owned factory was quite large before, with 500 to 600 workers. The roar of the factory continued to midnight every day. The mold maintenance master Lao You from Guang’an County in Shichuan Province, who has been here for 8 years, told the reporter: “In the past, because of noise, the villagers often went to the village committee to complain about that. The village committee then came to the factory to coordinate whether the working time could be shortened. But now, no one has come to complain about the noise issue any more. What we are thinking about is how we can work more.”
 
By the end of 2008, the factory orders slowed down and the crisis of operation started. Many workers left and only 140 workers are still here. Lao You has nothing to do at work. He was reassigned to be a security guard by the factory this year due to “the excess mold maintenance personnel”.

But he is unwilling to be a security guard: “Although the salaries are similar, I have technical skills and don’t want to lose them. What’s more, security is a really boring job."

During the Chinese New Year this year, he went to Houjie and Chang’an job fairs in Dongguan and found it was still relatively easy to find a job for skilled workers like him. By the end of February, he handed in his resignation letter to the factory. But the factory kept him using the excuse that it had no money to pay his last two months’ salary and said that such a technical backbone like he is the irreplaceable resource of the company. Once the economy improves, he will certainly be able to re-apply his skills to work.
 
Lao You said that he made allowance for the factory’s difficulty, but he was ready to move on. “If I cannot find a job in Dongguan, then I will go back to Guang’an. Guang’an is also developing well. I will come out again when the economy becomes better in the future.” You said that although he had confidence, he still had the feeling that a time of prosperity was now over when looking at the empty factory.

When we asked him whether we could have an interview with the owners, he said the owners were with two big customers then to get orders and seldom came back.

Endnote:
[1] “Village Chief Chen Jingchi,” Nanfang People Weekly, April 13, 2009
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/rwzk/20090413/gj/200904240007.asp
[2] “Financial Crisis Leaves Dongguan with Nothing,” Wenxue City, April 12, 2009
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/200904/news-gb2312-833038.html [Note: This introduction section could not be found on Nanfang People Weekly’s website, but was available on Wenxue City’s website when it reprinted Nanfang People Weekly’s articles]

Recently, some netizens posted excerpts from the Chengguan manual on the Internet. Some excerpts from the manual were also reprinted in Nanfang Weekends, a weekend-only newspaper under the Guangdong Province’s state run Nanfang Media Group enterprise, which is noted for maintaining a more liberal style than other state-run media. [1]

“Thirdly, don’t let go of the target easily. The need is to arrest the target and take him to the law enforcement car, the police station, or the Chengguan station. You need to ask where he is from, how long he has been here, why he dares to use violence against the law, whether he knows what kind of punishment he will receive as a result of today’s severe incident.

Fourthly, don’t try to take violent actions to control the target in front of the public. If you can’t avoid the public, use a milder approach to resolve the issue.

Fifthly, perform violent actions against the target on parts of his body. Make sure there is no blood on the target’s face, nor should there be any injury marks on his body. When there is nobody around, complete a chain of super-fast actions against the target in one shot, leaving no trace to be seen. Once in execution, you must do it quickly and cleanly, without any hesitation. Use all the forces at once.”

The report on Nanfang Weekends’ website received many readers’ comments to express their dismay. The following are some excerpts:

“- zcs0209
Public = Enemy???

– tcj1989
Hitler is back to life?

– limengze
(It is) definitely created by the Japanese, so logical and so clear. It’s an advanced version from what they did when they invaded China during the Second World War. The chengguan are much superior to those Japanese invaders.

– wai12320375
(The instruction book mentioned that chengguan should) ‘get to a selfless stage, becoming a firm enforcer of the regulations of the city urban administrative and law enforcement.’ See, being a chengguan is not easy at all. You have to reach the stage of selflessness.

– iamjimmylu
Sincerely recommend our government to make sure each citizen get a copy. Let them practice it daily to improve their health; also to take care the situation when run into bad guys.

– jbtob
How dare you! Obviously this is targeting and against the public. Chengguan, who told you to do this? Confess! Leniency to those who confess their crimes and severity to those who refuse to do so! [Editor’s comments: Chinese police always say ‘Leniency to those who confess their crimes and severity to those who refuse to do so!’ during interrogation]

– caokui
(Chengguan are) soldiers from the Special Forces…

– yinzenweibao
(It) might come from the Gestapo’s professional theory book. The National Administrative Institute is so amazing.

– lihuali
It’s outrageous! Outrageous! A book published by the National Administrative Institute does not tell people how to enforce the law in a civilized manner and respect citizen’s basic human rights, but to teach how to ‘kill people without blood’ and ‘commit crime without leaving a trace.’ What they lost here is not just the basic consciousness of a human being. They are bold and reckless, treating the law as nothing!

– seizetheday
If we had this book published 50 years ago and let each Chinese get a copy, who would need to spend eight years to fight the Japanese during the Second World War?

– lovetop778
How admiring! How talented! How capable our press and publication review process!

– jasonwell
No more mask (on the government’s face)?

– jarodlee
Wow, what a book! Have to give it a thumb up. Where can I buy it? Want to get one home to teach my son…

– tiangangwu
‘Quick and clean.’ ‘Without any trace.’ That’s how to handle the enemy.

– waimaidaole
God, do they still have human nature? We are not the enemy but regular people. How come they spend so much time and effort to come up with ways to deal with us? Please tell me where’s the dignity for a Chinese citizen? Will there be a massacre following this?

– fanqie
The government said that they will enforce the law openly and justly, that they will take people foremost, and that they will serve for the people wholeheartedly. All those sayings were just lip service. Their administrative strategy is to treat people as if they are treating enemies.

– emperorboy
Open. Just. Beat people when they need to beat them. Fine them when they need to fine them. Chengguan also need to make a living…

– fofo
Wow! What a ‘when there is nobody around.’ Being nice when there is people watching and switch to violence when not seen? ‘Quick and clean.’ ‘Leaving no trace out.’ Goose bumps…

– hbhujunbo
The fierce officials come to my town, yelling in the north and south, crashing in the east and west. People are scared and shutting up, even the dogs and cocks can’t have quiet lives. The ancient writer said an ‘oppressive government is more fearsome than a tiger.’ Now under the Communist Party’s great effort on constructing a harmonious society, we have something to compete with it. That’s the ‘chengguan is more fearsome than a tiger.’ Right?”

Endnote:
[1] “The First Textbook on Chengguan law enforcement: ‘Chengguan Law Enforcement and Operation Practice’,” Nanfang Weekends, April 21, 2009, http://www.infzm.com/content/27264

In 1996, the western world was shocked by a book called China Can Say “No,” which western media viewed as a sign of increasing nationalism. In March of this year, when the book China Is Unhappy was published, it caused a widespread debate. One thing people noticed is that Song Qiang, one of the authors of China Is Unhappy is the author of China Can Say “No.” Zhang Xiaobo, the publisher of China Is Unhappy was also one of the authors of China Can Say “No.” He used the alias, Zhang Cangcang.

Hence, someone thinks that China Is Unhappy is an “upgrade version” of China Can Say “No,” and a “warm-up of nationalism once more.” China Is Unhappy is the “money machine” crafted by one businessman (Zhang Xiaobo, the publisher) and five writers (Song Xiaojun, Wang Xiaodong, Song Qiang, Huang Jisu, Liu Yang). The subtitle of the book is “A Big Era, Our Major Objective and Our Internal Worries and External Chaos.” The cover also has eye-catching words printed on it, such as “Directly speaking for our country; Exercising our rights on behalf of heaven,” and “Leaving no stone unturned to drive out the evil; Daring to ensure peacefulness in the current world.” The book also drew critics who called it “purely commercial public relation campaign.”

Whether the book has a positive or negative response, the book China Is Unhappy has drawn widespread attention from both domestic and international media and become quite popular. Since it was published on March 13, 270,000 copies of the book have been printed. I recently tried to buy a copy of the book because I needed to write this news report. After visiting three bookstores, I was only able to find a display copy.

The whole book is a collection of the articles written by those five authors. It is divided into three sections: “Why China is Unhappy,” “China’s Claims,” and “Put Down the Little Buddha and Formulate Grand Goals.” The titles and words in the book appear quite striking:

“It is about time for the west to face China’s unhappiness.”

“We are the ones who spoiled westerners’ self-conceited arrogant attitude.”

“If we don’t set a large goal again, China will not have a chance.”

“The U.S. is not a paper tiger; it is rather ‘an aged cucumber covered with green paint’” [1]

After 13 years, why did they decide to write this book? Who are the targeted readers of the book and what information does it give to them? On March 24, I interviewed Liu Yang, one of the authors of China Is Unhappy.

“It is necessary to make a correction beyond what is really necessary”

China Economic Weekly: You participated in writing this book and also discussed your thoughts with other authors. What message do you want your readers to get out of it?

Liu Yang: We have many different views among ourselves. But there is one thing we have in common: 100 years have passed since the opium war. Many of our Chinese people have no confidence. As soon as someone says, “Let’s do something,” a group of others, holding a big stick in their hands, will tell you that you are swellheaded. Go assess your own ability. You are too conceited. They always look up to the west. Some of them are even on their knees or get down to the floor when they view the west. The common view among us is that we want to stand up, look at the west, and dialogue with them at eye level.

If China can do better than the west in the future, we will stand at a higher level. We will be able to look down at them, which is perfectly fine. But many Chinese don’t dare to have these kinds of thoughts.

China Economic Weekly: Do you think those who look down upon and undermine themselves represent the majority of the Chinese population?

Liu Yang: As a matter of fact, many people don’t even realize that they are having a dialogue with the west when they are on their knees or getting down on the ground. They think that is the normal posture and they are used to it. For example, a TV anchor once said the “dragon” is not an appropriate image for China and the “panda” seems to fit better. I think we can certainly have a discussion on whether we should use “dragon” or “panda” as the image of China. The question is why did you decide to change the image? You said it was because the foreigners didn’t like it, so we needed to make a change [to please them]. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. The US likes to use the “eagle” as the country’s symbol and they didn’t bother to ask whether the Chinese people like it or not, nor did they ask whether the English people like it or not.

China Economic Weekly: Many reviews of this book mentioned “nationalism.” Some think that “nationalism” is a hard line and hostile attitude. What is your understanding of “nationalism”?

Liu Yang: There are a fairly sizable number of intellectuals in China who think that nationalism is imbedded in our nation’s character. They think the nationalism or even patriotism is harmful. In the past we had words like “traitor.” Now there is a new word, “patrioteer.”

In fact there are two reasons [for thinking nationalism is harmful]: one is narrow-mindedness. The person doesn’t understand either modern history or the reason and background for nationalism. They just say it as they see it. As to why we say that there is so much negativity about nationalism, it is because nationalism in the west has gone to two extremes: millennialism and racism. Despite these concerns, we still need nationalism. The other reason is to fool our Chinese people. Every country in this modern era is encouraging nationalism. The difference is the way of doing it. The U.S. asks its people to buy domestic made products. That is nationalism.

From a certain perspective, China does not have too much nationalism, but rather lacks nationalism.

China Economic Weekly: What proof is there that our country’s nationalism is not enough?

Liu Yang: Take the tourist industry as an example. These days any country with a bit of history will protect its historical monuments representing its national culture very well; sometimes it will even fabricate its own history. The leaders feel that doing this can increase the national sentiment, while also making money. In China, though over the past few years we have paid more and more attention to this area, the Chinese people have destroyed so many historical monuments. These historical monuments are the carriers of our nationalism, but many people do not care at all. From this perspective, China really lacks nationalism.

Some people may think that we overemphasized nationalism in the book, and that it is an overkill. I agree that it might be an overkill in some areas, but in today’s China, a lot of people do not realize that there are problems in their way of thinking. I think this overkill is necessary as a wake-up call.

"China’s intellectuals should be prepared in advance"

China Economic Weekly: Some readers commented that China Is Unhappy has the purpose of "fiercely criticizing the West" and calls on "China to be a leading power." What is your view about this?

Liu Yang: Many Westerner say that one day China will surpass the United States. However, when we talk about this, we have to face an issue: If China continues its sustainable development, and one day China is able to assume many responsibilities and obligations in this world, how should China be responsible to the world? Even if China surpasses the U.S. in both economic and political influence, I am very clear that China can not become a second United States. It is impossible for China to influence the world in the same way as the United States, because the US approach has had many adverse effects. China must play its role and impact the world in a more responsible way.

China is not there yet, but I think that Chinese intellectuals should start thinking about the future of China’s development goals, and design a better model for China’s development. This should be a country’s long-term goal. We are now "hiding one’s capacity to accumulate power," and cherishing such a historic opportunity. There is nothing wrong with it, but in the meantime our intellectuals should have a greater vision for the world.

China Economic Weekly: Why shouldn’t China follow the U.S. model? Is this a conclusion based on the financial crisis?

Liu Yang: The financial crisis forced us to think about a lot of problems, and made it easier for us to find facts supporting many of our views. The US model allows its 300 million U.S. citizens to live in a relative wealthy way, but wealth is not the same as well-being. In addition, the problem is there are 6 billion people in this world, not just 300 million Americans. We believe that China’s responsibility is that China must establish a development model to allow China’s 1.3 billion people to live in a relatively wealthy way, and feel happier. Such a model should offer a social form for more countries to learn from, make the world wealthier, happier and satisfied. It is impossible for the US model to fulfill such a responsibility to the world.

“American-style obscurantism”

China Economic Weekly: How would you describe the core value of the US model?

Liu Yang: The American value simply equates the well-being of a person with the amount of money and wealth he has. This is very wrong. We can pursue wealth, but we should not view this as a person’s most important goal. The American people are treating many economic goals as pure economic issues. What does that mean? Take business as an example. American enterprises’ only goal is to make a profit. In order to make bigger profits, they reduce costs. Since the biggest cost is people. You can see that, when facing setbacks, many US enterprises lay off employees. This is a purely economic approach; it does not consider social responsibility at all.

China Economic Weekly: If we view the United States as a patient with a problem, how sick do you think the U.S. is?

Liu Yang: I think the United States has a cancer. Let me give a simple example. In the United States, many people worship Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. This is a manifestation of the supremacy of money. Under the influence of a group of theorists, entrepreneurs, and thinkers, the whole U.S. society is oriented toward business worship. Business culture has become a religion in American society. Such a religion has its roots deep in the hearts of the American people. This is the U.S. style of obscurantism.

Before the Great Depression, the U.S. policy was called social Darwinism, which emphasized competition. There was success or failure during competition. The fittest survive, while the weakest die out. This was a very popular view among scholars, thinkers and business leaders back then.

In today’s United States, obscurantism is popular in the form of “the science of success.” Its core concept is that your failure is caused by your own personality. People succeed because they have a good personality, good interpersonal skills, or are good at grasping the opportunity. This concept is deep in people’s hearts. It has also spread to China. What is the problem with such a concept? Some issues are obviously caused by the system, but people are told that they themselves are their biggest enemy. This is why under the same severe economic situation, there are millions of people protesting on the streets in France, but there are none in the United State. It is easy to understand.

Source: China Economic Weekly, April 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2009-04/07/content_11141330.htm

Footnote:
[1] A metaphor to describe something, although old and shabby, packaged to look good.

Li Changchun

… …

The Central Committee and State Council always pay extra attention to the development of the television industry as well as the work of China Central Television. Over the past 50 years, especially since the beginning of the reform and opening up period, under the care and direct leadership of the Central Committee and State Council, our television industry has grown from nothing, from small to large in scale and gone from domestic to international. It grew and advanced during difficult times and faced sharp competition while still exploring opportunities and undergoing reforms. Our communication technology is constantly advancing and the contents are becoming more and more diversified with broader coverage. It is growing stronger in its overall capacity. It has played an irreplaceable role in promoting the development of our Party and the country.

This year (2008) … is an unusual year for our country’s economic and social development. We have had many significant events, along with sad as well as happy events. They include the Party’s 17th National Congress, the third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee, the fights against natural disasters such as the freezing temperature, rain and snow [in Guangdong around Chinese new year]; safeguarding social stability in Tibet, earthquake relief, the Beijing Olympic and Paralympics games, the successful completion of Shenzhou VII manned space mission, the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of reforms and opening up, coping with the international financial crisis and other major reporting assignments. The television crews overcame many difficulties and dangerous challenges. They worked tirelessly to successfully finish various assignments. They have made significant contributions and effectively guided public opinion. They have greatly inspired our nation’s spirit, united the Party and the people, and made a significant contribution toward the cause that the Party and people try to achieve. It has proved that our country’s television workers have high political integrity, professional ability, discipline, constraint. They are a top-quality team. They are a strong team of dedicated workers who can jump start at any critical time and can endure hardship. They are an excellent team that the Party and the people can fully rely on. The Party and the people thank you!

…

Standing at a new historical starting point, our television industry still has a significant historical responsibility to take while facing limited opportunities to grow. We must conscientiously study and implement the speech by Hu Jintao in commemorating the 30-year anniversary of Party’s Third Plenary Session of the General Assembly and follow the requirements within the congratulatory letter from Party Chief Hu Jintao: to adapt to the latest social developments domestically and abroad, let the development of science be the driving force and take the improvement of telecommunication technology as a critical strategic task that needs to be implemented; put more effort in building a modern telecommunication network and focus on improving the ability for the media to lead public opinion, to build a world-class image and put effort in the most up-to-date media networks and strive to improve television work to a new level.

1, we need to get a clear assessment of the situation and clearly define our objectives, and build a sense of responsibility and urgency to strengthen our telecommunication capabilities domestically and internationally. The power of communication determines one’s influential ability. Today, whoever advances in telecommunication ability and technology will be able to influence the world with their cultural beliefs and values, hence exercising stronger influence in other countries. Strengthening domestic and international telecommunications has a direct impact on our open door reform climate, as well as modernization as a nation. It is related to our influence worldwide, as well as affecting our status in the world. It is connected to enhancing our cultural soft power as well as our ranking and power in the world’s media network. We must further strengthen the sense of responsibility and mission. We should focus on strengthening our domestic and international telecommunication capacity and take those as the next major goals to be accomplished. Let’s continue to finish the “New West Project” which will ensure radio and television coverage in every village. Let’s put more effort into studying and formulating the overall strategy for shaping CCTV as well as other state media to be world-class media domestically and internationally so they are compatible with our economic image. Let’s enhance their competitive advantage and influence so they will provide media support to our country’s open door reforms as well as other modernization developments.

2, Let’s be persistent in offering positive guidance of public opinion, and always maintain a solid political ground. Truthfulness is vital for a media and providing guidance is the soul. We should always adhere to be the mouthpiece for the Party and the people, hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, take Deng Xiaoping’s Theory and the “Three Represents” as our guidance, and implement in-depth the concept of scientific development. We must consciously align with the Party Central Committee, firmly grasp the correct political ground in terms of ideology and our actions. Television stations at all levels are an important cultural and public opinion battlefield for the Party and our country. It is necessary to bear in mind the important statements made by General Secretary Hu Jintao “correct guidance of public opinion will assist the Party, state, and the people; incorrect media guidance will damage the Party, the state, and the people.” We must always insist on unity, stability, positive propaganda around the overall situation, to serve the people, vigorously singing the main theme of the era, actively disseminate advanced socialist culture, and constantly strengthen the positive and healthy growth of the mainstream public opinion. We need to vigorously disseminate the Party’s ideas, to reflect the people’s will, to bridge the communication between the Party and government with the people. We need to enhance political awareness, awareness of the overall situation, sense of responsibility, battlefield awareness, and strengthen political sensitivity and discernment, and firmly establish the Marxist concept of news reporting and remain sober and firm on issues involving political directions, and Party and state affairs. We need to constantly improve our judgment on major critical issues, sensitive questions in complex situations, and provide the correct guidance of public opinion.

3, Let’s be persistent in reform and innovation, and speed up in building an extensive and technologically advanced modern media system. Reform and innovation are the driving force for the advancement of the telecommunications industry. We need to adapt to the latest features and requirements during ongoing globalization; information and public dissemination; keep on exploring and innovating; insist on promoting innovative initiatives and speed up the implementation to focus on the integration of the conventional media and newr media, switch our focus from domestic-oriented to both domestic and international; to build an extensive, technologically advanced modern media system. To enhance the awareness of independent innovation and strive to create a group of original programs to further enhance our country’s competitive influence in the domestic and international television network. We need to speed up the “expansion internationally” by strengthening the construction of foreign language international channels, expanding into other major foreign television sectors, vigorously promoting the localization of our media overseas so that our images and voices can be more widely spread around the world and into tens of thousands of households. We need to further build online television programs, accelerate the formation of a national-level television network equipped with international and domestic influence; build network television programs and enhance interaction to attract vast numbers of Internet users to upload and download healthy lively videos; to maximize the influence of mainstream media and grow the market share in the online video industry. We need to fully adopt and utilize the latest Internet technology and actively invest in research and development for our own network communication technology; to promote network television and mobile TV, car TV, public giant television, and expand network television coverage; to deepen reforms in the cultural and entertainment industry and further grow the cultural influence. We should deepen the reform of internal mechanisms, integration of existing resources, and improve management skills to promote labor, personnel, job assignment system reforms, and to encourage employees’ creativity and self-development.

4, We need to stick to the “Three Close Approach” principles to continually elevate our ability for guarding public opinion and spreading the “advanced culture.” Maintaining a close approach to reality, life, and the populace is the cardinal principle from the central committee since the 16th Party Congress for propaganda, ideology, and cultural work. It is the inevitable requirement for the work of television to thoroughly implement and realize the concept of scientific development. … In the event of major domestic and foreign incidents, we must insist on reporting with prompt accuracy and open transparency, and strive to be the first to speak out our voice, disseminate our viewpoints, win the power of words, and take control of the initiatives. We must unceasingly strengthen the credibility and influence of our country’s mainstream media. We need to perform  research on overseas audiences [to understand] their psychological characteristics and acceptance customs in order to produce works that closely follow the practicality of the development of China and the world, the demand of information about China, and the thinking behaviors of overseas audiences. We must use the skills of modern dissemination with the methods and languages that are understood and easily acceptable by the foreign audiences in order to strive for the improvement of originality, being the first to report, and the landing rate to strengthen the attractiveness and influence of our overseas propaganda. We need to deliver more artistic and theatrical works that are welcomed by domestic and foreign audiences to maximally satisfy the ever increasing cultural needs of the people. This is to make a new contribution to the big development and the great prosperity of the socialist culture.

5, We need to strengthen the development of qualified personnel and strive to create a high skill-level of television workers. We need to increase training of those middle-aged and young professional talents; to take various measures to train a large number of journalists, editors, and broadcasters, a group that are proficient in the television business, proficient in foreign languages, especially those reporters stationed in foreign countries who are familiar with the Party and state policies, to understand media operations and management, the talents who are the masterminds behind television, the latest network communication technologies. Vast numbers of television personnel must be firm in their ideals and faith, consciously apply the socialist theoretical system with Chinese characteristics, inherit and carry forward the fine tradition of senior television workers, and strive to make a first class performance that is worthy of the Party, worthy of the people, worthy of the times.

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We are in the new era of renewal of the Chinese nation. The future of Chinese Central Television is promising, very promising. The vast majority of television workers are uniting more closely with Comrade Hu Jintao as general secretary, holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, taking Deng Xiaoping’s Theory and the “Three Represents” as the guide, adopting deeper implementation of the scientific development concept, further promoting the cause of our country’s prosperity and the development of television, and letting the Party and the government spread the voice to millions of households, putting the voice of China to all parts of the world. We are making great contributions to achieve a well-off society and the great rejuvenation of China!

Source: Guangmin Daily, December 23, 2008
http://news.china.com/zh_cn/news100/11038989/20081223/15248144.html