For several weeks, China has been trying to inform the world and its people, “We are a democratic country.” The background in the strategic change is the direct competition between Beijing and the United States. Chinese state media and propaganda agencies have spared no effort to declare through all possible channels, “China is a democratic country and superior to the West.”
Earlier this month, China invited foreigners to participate in an online “high-end dialogue” that competed with the American Democracy Summit. Among the participants were representatives from dictatorial countries such as Syria and Cuba, as well as so-called experts, including some international scholars who teach at Chinese universities. Not surprisingly, they also concluded that Chinese democracy is superior to Western democracy.
Roland Boer, a professor at the Institute of Marxism at Dalian University of Technology, is one of them. He said at the dialogue meeting, “Socialist democracy is a more honest and superior form of democracy. It is encouraging to see that China is about to win back democracy for socialism in the world. … Socialism is certainly more democratic than capitalism.”
Source: Deutsche Welle, December 15, 2021
https://www.dw.com/zh/中国突然成了民主国家/a-60130940
Some Provinces in China Cut Government Employees Salaries
Some Chinese netizens posted on the Internet that, starting in December, civil servants in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian Provinces received notices of pay cuts of about twenty to thirty percent. Scholars believe that this phenomenon reflects the severity of China’s economic challenge, since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) puts the “officials (government employees)” in a much higher class than the normal citizens.
Some examples shared on the Internet include: the annual salary of a police station chief in Shanghai dropped from 350,000 yuan (US$ 55,000) to less than 200,000 yuan, and the salary of a civil servant was reduced from 240,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan. Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province announced cuts in staff positions as well as salaries without giving out reasons. Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai cut the performance bonus for civil servants, causing people’s annual income dropped from 300,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan, and in some cases, from 200,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan. Certain areas in Guangdong Province have stopped distributing civil servants’ subsidies for two months and teachers’ subsidies for one month.
According to Henan Business Daily, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection responded to an inquiry by saying that civil servants who drive taxis or deliver food after work are not considered disciplinary offences. Some netizens view this as the authorities allowing or encouraging ordinary civil servants to take part-time jobs in other industries after work.
Source: Radio Free Asia, December 9, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/ql2-12092021054023.html
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Beijing’s Anti-American Korean War Movie Hit North American Big Screens
The Chinese war movie, “The Battle at Lake Changjin” opened in late November in a limited theatrical release in North America.
The Korean War film was released by CMC Pictures with English subtitles in more than 20 selected theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto and a few other cities across North America.
Deutsche Welle reported that the film has raised anger in South Korea, with the public calling it “propaganda filled with historical inaccuracies.” South Korean former diplomat Ra Jong-yil called the film “nonsense” and “a whitewashing” and accused it of attempting to reshape the narrative of events during the Korean War.
The movie, a state propaganda to instigate anti-American sentiments amid the tension between two countries, was released in mainland China around National Day holiday.
Source: Xinhua, November 11, 2021
http://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20211111/e0d97351280848ff890db6789f1594df/c.html
New Wave of Layoffs in China’s IT Industry
Chinese media have reported new waves of layoffs at major IT companies. Many employees who are over 35 years old will have difficulty finding new jobs in the industry.
Outlets, including Yicai.com and the Economic Observer, said that amid this wave of layoffs, many employees in their 30s have a greater “sense of crisis” than their younger peers. In China’s IT industry, the age of 35 is a threshold. When employees above that age are laid off, it is very difficult for them for find a new job in big companies.
Reports have told stories of a number of 35-year-old senior employees. Having not yet been told to leave, they are ready to jump ship or start their own businesses. However, not everyone has had enough time to plan for their future. One Baidu employee, who just bought a property in Beijing in August this year, received a notice on December 1, without prior warning, that he had to wrap up and leave by noon on December 3. Another Tencent employee mentioned that he has been intensively interviewed by the human resources department since October and asked to choose between leaving voluntarily and being transferred out.
The year 2021 saw the entire Chinese IT sector caught in waves of layoffs, including giants such as Tencent, ByteDance, Didi Chuxing, and JD.com.
Source: Central News Agency, December 12, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202112120132.aspx
Global Times Chief Criticized the U.S. in Its Annual Meetings
Global Times recently reported, in the coverage of its own Annual Meetings, that its Editor in Chief Hu Xijin said the attitude of the United States towards China this year is very bad. Hu complained about the timing of Biden’s Democracy Summit and also about the Biden Administration’s continuation of most of Trump’s anti-China policies. Hu also said that Biden has spurred more radical anti-China attitudes in more Western countries. A number of challenges seem to be increasing. With regard to the Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan issues, the world has also seen that confrontations are intensifying. Hu complained that he and the Global Times have become a target for repeated attacks from the United States, from Taiwan and from the Hong Kong separatists. He also said, on the Internet and in the media, that an international public opinion war is actively going on. Hu thanked the attending guests at the Global Times Annual Meetings under the risk of Covid-19, and he was determined to win the fight against the “political meeting” of the U.S. Democracy Summit.
Source: Global Times, December 11, 2021
https://world.huanqiu.com/article/45wMYnErpeQ
Lianhe Zaobao: China will Give Up Some WTO Preferential Treatment to Developing Countries
Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Li Chenggang, China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), said that China will remain a developing country in the WTO, but will give up some of its preferential treatment for developing countries. This is a major change for China’s trading partners. Li said that, due to some persistent poverty issues, China still considers itself a developing country, but China will seek to divest itself in some areas such as agriculture and financial services. He also said that, as a major fishing country, China may waive all WTO exemptions. WTO members, including the United States, Australia, and Japan, criticized China in a WTO trade assessment in October, pointing out that China provides subsidies to state-owned enterprises. That violates the conditions under which China joined the WTO in 2001. However, Li argued that, in terms of lowering tariff rates and opening up the service industry, it has surpassed some WTO accession standards. He refused to disclose when and under what conditions China will completely abandon its position as a developing country. As the world’s second largest economy, China faces increasing criticism from its trading partners on the issue of China’s status as a developing country.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, December 11, 2021
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20211211-1222073
Xinhua: The U.S. Pushes 6G Alliance; Excludes China
Xinhua recently reported that, last year, the United States wooed its allies into establishing a 6G “small circle” alliance , excluding China. This year, the U.S. has been strengthening the cooperation among allies in a variety of new ways. The alliance’s key tasks mainly include the establishment of a 6G strategic roadmap, the promotion of 6G related policies and budgets, and the global promotion of 6G technologies and services. At present, dozens of global information and communication industry giants such as Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, and Nokia have joined the club, but leading Chinese 5G companies Huawei and ZTE have been excluded. Chinese scholars expressed the belief that it is understandable, since the purpose of the Alliance is to fix the leadership position of the United States in the upcoming 6G era. Ever since the founding of the Alliance, the U.S. has continuously strengthened its technical cooperation on a government level in the 6G field with Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other countries. This is the latest attempt to “overtake” in the 6G field and regain the global dominance in the communications industry, and to contain China. For example, in April, The U.S. and Japan announced a joint US$4.5 billion for 6G development. In June, South Korea announced a Korea-U.S. joint research program with US$188 million in funding. Samsung U.S. Research Center already received FCC approval of 6G bands. 6G technology is expected to have several to several hundred times better performance than 5G. It includes multiple delivery channels and includes satellite connectivity. The U.S. Alliance and its exclusion of China will inevitably lead to a division in global 6G technical standards.
Source: Xinhua, December 8, 2021
http://www.news.cn/mrdx/2021-12/10/c_1310363619.htm