Beyond the crisis in real estate, steep public debt and rising unemployment have hit savings and spending. The world’s second-largest economy may miss its own growth target - 5% - this year.That is sobering for the Chinese Communist Party. Explosive growth turned China into a global power, and stable prosperity was the carrot offered by a repressive regime that would never loosen its grip on the stick.
However in 2023, only 38.8% felt life had got better for their families. And less than half - about 47% - believed things would improve over the next five years.
Meanwhile, the proportion of those who felt pessimistic about the future rose, from just 2.3% in 2004 to 16% in 2023.
Does hard work pay off? Chinese people now say ‘no’
"There’s a big difference between China doing well, and Chinese people doing well."
“We are still in the midst of the national security reordering of the civic space in Hong Kong,” said Thomas Kellogg, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Asian Law. “Public debate and discussion is a shadow of its former self, and the government will continue to use its national security tool kit to police what people say and write.”
In 2020, regulators called off the initial public offering of Jack Ma’s financial technology giant Ant Group, beginning a years-long crackdown on the once-booming Chinese tech industry, which the government views as monopolistic.In recent months, economic tensions between China and the rest of the world have flared because of the sharp increase in Chinese exports. The United States and the European Union worry that China is using unfair trading practices, such as heavy state subsidies, to support these industries, leading to a flood of Chinese products like electric vehicles, solar panels and steel into the global market, potentially damaging industries and jobs in other countries.
Some people, especially in small towns, drive to another city to mail their photos, worried that they might become gossip for neighbors, Liu said. Divorce remains stigmatized in many less-developed regions and tightly knit communities, particularly for women.
Watch out for Good Samaritans with ulterior motives, packages in your mail and college students looking to make a quick buck, China tells its people.The drumbeat is part of a broader push by China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, to make national security the country’s top priority, above other longstanding goals, such as economic development.
In Beijing’s view, that requires far more than strengthening spy agencies or investing in the military. It requires activating every Chinese citizen to be on the lookout, in what China has called a “whole of society” mobilization.
Spies exploit university students to photograph sensitive research sites: MSS
Pens can contain hidden cameras. Lighters can be bugged with listening devices. That dragonfly? Actually a tiny aerial drone. And beware the tissue box, which a guest may bring to a dinner party where major infrastructure projects are being discussed. A recorder may be hidden inside. “Some unassuming daily objects may contain mysteries,” the post said, above a hotline for reporting spies - 中国如何通过领英招募海外间谍
The Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has unveiled details of a second major food scandal to rock the country this year, this time involving wolfberries smoked and soaked in prohibited chemicals.
When asked about the consul general’s involvement, Hochul said, “I believe that the Chinese government, with their behavior, in doing this and working with Linda Sun, is not acceptable – it is a statement by us that we’re not tolerating this. Anybody representing that government needs to move on. That was what we made clear.”Timeline: January 2019: Sun wrote to a PRC official, “I very much value my relationship with the consulate and have done many things to make the relationship between the state and the consulate flourish during my tenure with (Politician-1),” according to the indictment. Though Politician 1 is unnamed, Sun was serving under Cuomo at the time.
“Certainly I have managed to stop all relationships between the TECO and the state. I have denied all (r)equests from their office,” Sun said, according to the indictment.
July 2024: Federal investigators raided a home belonging to Sun and Hu.
Over a period of roughly 14 years, Linda Sun rose through the ranks to become deputy chief of staff to the governor.
But according to federal prosecutors, the 41-year-old used her position to aid Chinese officials, including by blocking Taiwanese diplomats from contacting the state government and covertly sharing internal documents with Beijing.
In return, China allegedly showered Ms Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, with millions of dollars in kickbacks that helped them buy a $4.1m (£3.1m) house in New York and perks including special home deliveries of salted duck.
Millions of college graduates joining the job market are facing long odds and poor prospects. And China’s population has shrunk two years in a row. In a country where the majority of people had only known the economy to grow rapidly and living conditions to improve, confidence is eroding.Last month, the beauty retailer Sephora, an arm of the French luxury group LVMH, announced that it was cutting jobs because of 'the challenging market.' IBM is shutting its two research and development centers in China.
And China has been steadfastly unwilling to countenance increased immigration to fill the labor gap. The United States, in contrast, has historically been far more open to immigration, although public support will only be sustained if future flows come by way of legal channels—rather than unrestricted migration through the southern border.
"those plants gonna to be built in the US and our peopole are going to man those plants", said 'Old Donald'
Behind the Pageantry of Shen Yun, Untreated Injuries and Emotional Abuse - read in harnji
First in New York City, then in Paris, Toronto and Taipei, the dancers - mostly teenagers and young adults - flipped and vaulted onstage in soaring routines meant to awe and entertain and also to spread the message of Falun Gong, the persecuted Chinese religious movement behind the performances.Since then, the dance group, Shen Yun Performing Arts, has grown into an economic engine for the movement and its leaders, with brisk ticket sales on five continents and holdings of more than $265 million.
Many of the dancers and musicians who spoke to The Times hesitated to share their stories publicly, fearing retaliation by Falun Gong and its spiritual leader. That leader, Li Hongzhi, introduced the movement in China in 1992, at a time when ancient energy-based exercises were surging in popularity. He has led it in exile while presiding over the guarded 400-acre compound in upstate New York where many of Shen Yun's performers live and train.
Some performers who wanted to quit before the group was ready to let them go faced threats and intimidation. Their managers told them they would go to hell or face danger if they left, because they would lose Mr. Li's protection. Seven former performers said they were also told that they would have to repay the cost of tuition if they quit Shen Yun.
It's conventional to say modern China is based on a compromise: we'll make you rich if you don't ask for change. But that makes it sound as though it's a choiceIt's not Edward Wong's purpose to look at China's future, but despite the propaganda flowing out of Beijing nowadays it's clear that the stability which Xi Jinping has brought to China isn't going to be the last word. Wong's finely crafted book shows us why.
... there is a feeling that "Old Donald" being head of US will be better for China's interestes in the long term, and they say this because when you look at what Biden has done they see that Biden has strengthened the military alliances of US around Asia they feel that there's a policy of containmnet now tht Biden has been pushing ....
The world's second-largest economy is in a slump. Foreign investment is at a 30-year low, the property sector is struggling, and the corridors of power in Beijing are looking chaotic, with mysterious purges of several ministers. President Xi Jinping has a chance to turn China’s fortunes around at this year’s Third Plenum. He should put his theories aside, and take a leaf from the history books for inspiration.The conclave, typically held once every five years, can set the stage for significant policy shifts. The meeting in 1978, for instance, was pivotal — it brought about massive changes, moving the country away from “class struggle” to a period of reform and opening up under then-leader Deng Xiaoping. It changed the course of China’s development and brought about decades of generational wealth growth.
China and Russia's naval forces on Sunday kicked off a joint exercise at a military port in southern China on Sunday, official news agency Xinhua reported, days after NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war in Ukraine.
The exercise, which began in Guangdong province on Sunday and is expected to last until mid-July, aimed to demonstrate the capabilities of the navies in addressing security threats and preserving peace and stability globally and regionally, state broadcaster CCTV reported Saturday, adding it would include anti-missile exercises, sea strikes and air defense.
A Chinese official rejected on Thursday an accusation from NATO members, who said that Beijing has become a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine.A spokesperson for China's Mission to the European Union said a declaration issued on Wednesday by NATO members was "filled with Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric."
"We never provide lethal weapons to either party of the conflict, and exercise strict export control on dual-use goods including civilian drones," the spokesperson said in published remarks.
No Job, No Marriage, No Kid: China's Workers and the Curse of 35
China, once the world's economic powerhouse, is facing a significant economic crisis. Over-reliance on the property sector, rising debt, ongoing trade conflicts with the US, demographic shift towards an aging population and government crackdowns on graft under Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" guidelines: All have created a perfect storm for the Chinese economy.
“Too old to work at 35 and too young to retire at 60,” said a viral online post — meaning that people of prime working age lack prospects and older people may need to keep working as the government is considering raising the retirement age. The post goes on: “Stay away from homeownership, marriage, childr
The Chinese Communist Party’s leadership is set to meet on Monday in Beijing for a four-day strategic review of economic policymaking and ideology that typically takes place every five years. China’s latest economic growth statistics are also due on Monday, with economists expecting a slowdown in the second quarter.
After the revelation in April that 23 elite Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned substance months before the last Summer Olympic Games, China and the global antidoping authority vigorously defended their decisions to allow them to compete in the Games in 2021. The swimmers, they insisted, had not been doping.
Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which monitors and penalizes American athletes if they cheat, testified that WADA has failed for years to properly punish Chinese and also Russian sports teams that regularly use performance-enhancing drugs.
"Russia and China have been too big to fail in [WADA's] eyes and they get a different set of rules than the rest of the world does unfortunately," Tygart said.
The result is that military-age men from China seeking to move to the United States by crossing the border from Mexico are framed as dangerous members of a traitorous fifth column, even if they’re entering as refugees fleeing the Chinese government. Military-age men from China attending college in the United States, though? They should get fast-tracked immigration status, even if the Chinese government has helped promote their education.Squaring this circle requires nothing more complicated than figuring out which of those immigrants is an America-hater. Simple enough.