2013 Youth Development Report: Beijing Has 160,000 Low Income College Graduates
The Social and Sciences Academic Press recently published the “2013 Youth Development Report” on China’s youth. According to the report there are currently 160,000 members of the “Ant Group” “蚁族” in Beijing. Their average income is 4,133 yuan (US$644) per month, which is US$88 below the average income level in all of Beijing. Close to 70 percent of the group resides in a living space that is less than 10 square meters (108 square feet) and pays monthly rent of 518 yuan (US$85).
[Editor’s note: The “Ant Group” refers to "low income college graduates" who are either unable to find jobs after they graduate or are college students who have taken low-income jobs while living somewhere between the urban and the rural areas.]
Source: Xinhua, June 9, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-06/09/c_124836011.htm
Liu Yunshan: Cultural System Reform Urgently Needed
On June 8, Liu Yunshan, first Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Party, visited several cultural renovation bases in Beijing, including the Design Resource Cooperative, which hosts over 30 cultural entities, Zhongguancun Science Park, and the Beijing Gehua CATV Network Company. Liu praised the cultural renovation work that the the municipality of Beijing had accomplished and stressed that a new mission and requirements have been laid out for cultural entities. He also stated that the reform of the cultural system is urgently needed in order to accomplish the goal of the “China Dream” ideology that Xi Jinping raised.
Source: People’s Daily, June 9, 2013
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/0609/c1024-21796196.html
Qiushi Theory Commentary: MultiûParty System Will Not Fix Corruption Issues
Qiushi Theory recently published a commentary intended to counter the opinions that “China’s one party rule is the root cause of the corruption problem” and that “Only a multi-party system can make clean governance a possibility.” The commentary stated that these opinions lack the support of historical evidence and theory. It listed a number of arguments and examples to support this claim. One was that the role of the party system represents the interests of various political groups and the system itself does not contain the ability to curb corruption. A multi-party system will not prevent corruption and the corruption in that system could be worse at times. Corruption exists in countries that have a multi-party system, while, at the same time, a country with one party rule can also bring clean governance. the commentary held that China’s system of one party rule offers the best advantage to solve the corruption issues.
Source: Qiushi Theory, June 8, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/ffcl/201306/t20130608_238501.htm
The Outcome When Britain, France, and Germany Anger China
Ghana Detains over a Hundred Chinese Citizens for Illegal Gold Mining Operation
Recently, the Government of Ghana carried out a large-scale action against illegal gold mining. As of June 5, Ghana had arrested 124 Chinese citizens suspected of illegal gold mining. Officials from Shanglin County of the Guangxi Autonomous Region said that the vast majority of the 124 people detained in Ghana are from Shanglin.
Communist Retirees Hired to Monitor Internet Postings
Beijing Daily reported that 50 retired senior Communist Party cadres have been hired to monitor the Internet as part of the Party’s Internet censorship. They are the first group of retired senior cadres to take on this task.
According to the Beijing municipal Party organization department, “Internet information is constantly changing. [Retired] senior comrades have valuable, rich life experience and work experience. These newly hired monitors will be able to use their strengths. After understanding the Internet information environment, they will be able to spot problems promptly, speak up, and publish articles. They will spread positive energy, resist rumors and bad postings, and make contributions that will help purify cyberspace."
“The retired senior cadre monitors can use their own accounts and passwords to join the blogs and chat rooms and may report on bad postings at any time.”
Source: Beijing Daily reprinted by the Chinese Communist Party website, June 6, 2013 http://renshi.people.com.cn/n/2013/0606/c139617-21759335.html
People’s Daily: China’s Talent Loss Tops the World
After a screening of 1,907 of the world’s top technologically innovative, talented people in six fields, including biological and biochemistry, computers, physics, agriculture, mathematics, and chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that China has the leading edge in physics, mathematics and computer science. However, the number of China’s most talented who have been lost tops the world. An average of 87 percent of those in the science and engineering fields have chosen to stay overseas. An official from the Central Talent Work Coordination Group Office pointed to several problems that China has: a shortage of high-level, innovative, creative talent; a lack of innovation capabilities, and a mismatch between the demand for and the supply of talent.
In this current "war for talent," many developed countries are using immigration reform to attract or retain talented people. In recent years, nearly a million overseas Chinese students have chosen to return to China under the "thousands of people plan," including over twenty thousand with high-level talent.
Source: Xinhua, June 6, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-06/06/c_124820431.htm