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Chinese Graduates Signing Rate was Only 32 Percent as of May

Well-known Chinese news site Tencent News recently reported that, according to the latest data on contract-signing for college graduates, as of May, 22 percent of males signed employment contracts and 10 percent of females signed, which is really appalling. This year’s class of college graduates faced a truly tough labor environment. The COVID pandemic has brought down many employers. With continuous risk control, millions of companies have no profit, only expense after expense. It has not been easy for small and medium-sized companies to survive this year. However, if they do survive, they have to save money and reduce costs. Many employers are laying off employees. It is very difficult to find a job at this time. Half of the companies have closed down, so it’s already strange if one doesn’t lose his job, let alone the difficulty college students who have just graduated face in seeking a job. There are a lot of people who have been in the job market for more than 10 years and are still without a job. The number is greater than for those who have just-graduated. Many colleges push students to sign the Tripartite Agreements (an employment agreement between the student, the college and the employer), which are often not a guarantee of employment but just an intent, since the Agreement is not a legally binding formal hiring contract. Not many students have managed to secure a hiring contract for job positions as soon as they graduate. Many had to turn to continuing education by taking graduate school exams, or to participate in civil service exams  to obtain a government job. However, there are only so many job positions every year, and most people will take the exams while working on something temporary or just give up altogether.

Source: Tencent News, May 19, 2022
https://xw.qq.com/cmsid/20220519A034M400

Tencent’s First-Quarter Net Profit Halved

Well-known Chinese news site NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) recently reported that Tencent Holdings just released its financial report for the first quarter of 2022. According to the financial report, the company’s revenue in the first quarter was RMB 135.5 billion (around US$20.2 billion), flat year-over-year, while net profit was RMB 23.4 billion (around US$3.5 billion), down 51 percent year-over-year. This is its worst performance since its listing. Tencent also warned that advertisers in consumer, e-commerce and travel businesses are cutting spending. Tencent, as the WeChat messaging platform operator, said advertising sales fell 18 percent in the first quarter, year-over-year. This is the category that saw the deepest loss. The domestic gaming market revenue was down one percent year-over-year, citing tighter government regulations. Ma Huateng, the founder of Tencent, said that Tencent implemented cost control measures and adjusted some non-core businesses. Another senior executive also said that, the more people, the higher the cost, so structural changes are needed, and the company may “optimize personnel structure.” The Chinese government established the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising in the fourth quarter of 2021, which “enhanced” the industry supervision system. As one of the biggest sponsors of internet advertising before, the online education and training industry has plummeted. Tencent’s stock price has halved since its peak in January last year, wiping US$440 billion off its market value. This happened after China launched a regulatory crackdown to control the influence of big internet companies.

Source: NetEase, May 19, 2022
https://www.163.com/dy/article/H7NLLLT505509EKV.html?f=post2020_dy_recommends
https://www.163.com/dy/article/H7M6DK620519SUH3.html?f=post2020_dy_recommends

The Connection between the LA Shooter and the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification

In a planned shooting, David Wenwei Chou (周文伟), 68, of Las Vegas, killed one person and injured five at a Taiwanese church in Los Angeles. The Orange County police called it a politically driven hate crime against Taiwanese. Chou strongly opposed Taiwan independence.

There are a few connections between the killer and the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (中国和平统一促进会). That  was a semi-official organization under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) control. It served as a vehicle for the CCP’s united front work. Wang Yang (汪洋), a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee (the highest CCP decision making organ) and the Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, serves as the Chairman of that organization.

In 2019, Chou attended the opening ceremony of the Las Vegas Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful National Reunification. He was a board member and spoke at the ceremony.

Before the killing, Chao mailed out a set of audio/image packages, titled, “The Diary of the Angle to Eradicate (Taiwan) Independence.” The recipients of his packages include Wang Yang, Qin Gang (China’s Ambassador to the United States), Hu Xijin (former Chief Editor of Global Times (Huanqiu)) and Wang Feng, the publisher of China Times (a Taiwan media which switched to a pro-CCP position after being bought by Want Wang Holdings which had a big business investment in mainland China), and some Chinese media in the United States.

Source: NTDTV, May 19, 2022
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/05/19/a103433096.html

The U.S. Government Should Bear Considerable Responsibility for the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

China’s state media Global Times published a commentary article stating that the U.S. should bear the responsibility for the Russia-Ukraine war. Below are the major points in the article:

“The Ukraine crisis has been going on for more than two months. According to the U.S. State Department, the U.S. has pledged about $3.7 billion in security aid to Ukraine since February 24. A growing number of international sources point out that the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is largely the result of the arrogance and successive mistakes of the US-led Western bloc over the past 30 years. The U.S. government should bear considerable responsibility. The current actions of the United States will not help end the crisis, but will continue to play up confrontation.”

“The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is, in a sense, a proxy war waged by the United States in Europe. However, the cost of the war is mainly borne by European countries.”

“The U.S. divides the world into different camps according to its own standards, which itself violates the spirit of democracy and will only bring more chaos to the world and more disasters to the people of all countries.”

“International public opinion generally believes that the Biden administration has continuously promoted ‘returning to multilateralism’ since taking office, but in fact, it is using ideological boundaries to form factions and force the selection of sides to divide the world. The United States continues to strengthen small circles and small groups such as the ‘Quadrilateral Mechanism,’ the ‘Five Eyes Alliance’ and the ‘G7.’ The fundamental purpose is to maintain the hegemony of the United States.“

“The Ukrainian crisis is yet another example of America’s push for hegemony. One of the root causes of this war is America’s opposition to European countries developing closer economic ties with Russia.”

“Analysts pointed out that the Ukrainian crisis reflects the unilateral definition of a ‘rules-based international order’ by the United States for a long time based on its own standards. Its essence is to maintain the rule order of the HEGEMONIC power of the United States.”

Source: Global Times, May 12, 2022
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/47yThzp10yU

China Tightens Restrictions on Its Citizens Leaving and Returning to the Country

Recently, many Chinese netizens left messages saying that when they intended to leave China, they were rejected by border inspectors, some of their passports were cut off, and even someone’s green card was cut off, too. An agent for studying abroad said that the government had suspended citizens from going abroad to study in primary and secondary schools and stopped issuing passports for primary and secondary school students to go abroad.

In response to these, China’s National Immigration Administration (CNIA) said on May 13 that the “suspension of passports and prohibiting exiting the country by cutting one’s passport or green cards are all fake news.” These are for “distorting and smearing our entry and exit management policies, intending to interfere with the legal, accurate and effective entry and exit management under the condition of normalized COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control measures.”

On May 10, the CNIA stated, “We should strictly implement strict and tight entry and exit policies, strictly restrict the non-essential exit activities of Chinese citizens, and strictly approve and issue entry and exit documents.”

Earlier on April 27, the CNIA spokesman said that it would “strictly examine and issue documents and visas, and Chinese citizens should not leave the country for non-essential and non-emergency purposes.” In addition, it will clearly continue to implement strict and tight entry and exit policies.

According to the official explanation, “non-essential” reasons include tourism and visiting relatives. The “necessary” reasons include studying abroad, being employed, doing business, or traveling for medical treatment, participating in epidemic prevention and control, or transporting of disaster relief supplies.

Chinese authorities’ restrictions on outbound travel can be dated back to November 2020, when the CNIA said it would strictly approve applications for entry and exit documents for Chinese citizens for non-essential reasons.

The strict control of entry and exit is an important part of the “Zero-COVID” policy. China’s recent stricter immigration policy was designed “to prevent foreign import of COVID” and China will not change it in the near future.

Sources:

  1. BBC News 中文, May 17, 2022.  https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-61462183
  2. Aboluowang, May 10, 2022. https://www.aboluowang.com/2022/0510/1746668.html

The Vatican Expressed a Desire to Keep the China-Vatican Agreement after the CCP Arrested Bishop Joseph Zen

The recent Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) suppression of freedom of speech in Hong Kong was that, on May 11, it arrested the 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen and three other people in Hong Kong. Cardinal Zen is one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia.

However, the Vatican showed a weak response after the Cardinal’s arrest.

Cardinal Peitro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, said they were sad about Cardinal Zen’s arrest but do not want this event to be viewed as a disavowal of the China-Vatican temporary agreement on the joint Bishop appointment.

People have been questioning the Vatican’s move in collaborating with the CCP. Who will the Bishops appointed jointly by the CCP and the Vatican be loyal to? To the CCP or to God?

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, May 14, 2022
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20220514-1272582

The CCP Central Office Warned Retired High-Ranking Officials

On May 15, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Office published the “Opinions on Strengthening the Party Building Work of Retired Cadres” (“Opinions”)  to request retired officials to stand on the official CCP position and Xi Jinping’s leadership and not to express negative opinions.

The “Opinions” require the regulation and discipline of retired CCP officials to “better unite the majority of retired cadres around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. The “Opinions“ require retired party member cadres, especially those who have held leading positions, to adhere strictly to the relevant disciplinary rules and further enhance their spirit of supporting the party and the awareness of party discipline.”

Xinhua also published an article titled, “The Head of the CCP Department of Organization Answered Reporters’ Questions on the Opinions.”

One question was, “What clear requirements did the Opinions have on strengthening the education and management of retired party member cadres?”

Th answer was, “… In terms of strict disciplinary rules, it required that retired party member cadres, especially those who have held leading positions, should adhere strictly to the relevant disciplinary rules, should not discuss the major policies of the Party Central Committee with their own opinions, should not spread negative political statements, should not participate in the activities of illegal social organizations, and should not use their former authority or position to seek benefits for themselves and others. (They should) resolutely oppose and resist all kinds of wrong thinking,  …”

Sources:
1. People’s Daily, May 16, 2022
http://dangjian.people.com.cn/n1/2022/0516/c117092-32422121.html
2. CCTV, May 16, 2022
https://news.cctv.com/2022/05/16/ARTIABpDUchNd46qBhZczKL5220516.shtml