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  1. #626
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    China signs deal to build 1,000 model schools in Iraq

    David Rogers
    17.12.21

    "The deals were signed yesterday at a ceremony attended by Li Daze, vice president of the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), Koo Jun, regional director of Sinotech, and Karar Muhammad, director of the Iraqi government’s Supreme Committee for School Construction.

    PowerChina will build 679 of the schools and Sinotech the remaining 321.

    The deal is the first tranche of a wider agreement, reached last November between Iraq and China, to build 7,000 schools. According to that memorandum of understanding, they will be model facilities, “modern in style and in accordance with the actual and practical needs of the Iraqi environment”, reports Iraq Business News.

    No value was given for the programme, but in 2019 China agreed to build a wide range of construction projects in exchange for 100,000 barrels of oil (see further reading).

    UNICEF notes that there are about 3.2 million Iraqi children outside the education system. In some provinces, such as Salah al-Din north of Baghdad and Diyala to the east, 90% of children are out of school. Iraq has in the past allocated less than 6% of its national budget to the education sector, placing it at the bottom rank of Middle East countries.

    PowerChina is a wholly state-owned contractor made up of some 780 companies. It is the world’s fifth largest construction company, according to Engineering News-Record, and best known for its work on the Three Gorges Dam and the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed rail line. Sinotech is an industrial conglomerate with a wide variety of activities. "

    China signs deal to build 1,000 model schools in Iraq - Global Construction Review
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  2. #627
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    US elites’ hate speech toward China shows degeneration of values

    On a Fox News show Friday night, right-wing radio pundit Jesse Kelly scoffed at US women serving in the military while launching a tirade of hate speech toward China. Kelly said that "we don't need a military that's woman-friendly. We don't need a military that's gay-friendly... We need a military that's flat-out hostile. We need a military full of Type-A men who want to sit on a throne of Chinese skulls, but we don't have that now."

    These heinous words show the inhumanity of this commentator. Just as the conscientious US elites feared, there is a marked regression and degeneration in American values typified by allowing a war-monger to proclaim his support for mass killing on Fox News.

    American political elites are advertising the country as a beacon of democracy and "a city upon a hill," where all kinds of opinions are inclusive. However, as shown in this cruel reality and Kelly's blunt statement, the existing values among the US elites are exceptionally chaotic and full of backward ideas that have been abandoned by history. Values that advocate peace and inclusiveness are being impacted, or to some extent suppressed, by racist, xenophobic and militant values, indicating that there is indeed a strong far-right force in the country.

    Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Jesse Kelly are so vicious and irrational that they take China as their target. The opinions they spout forth on China are typical of the Neo-Nazism bred on American soil, promoting racial hatred and crimes against humanity. Their speeches are extremely dangerous for the US, as well as the whole world.

    Many see the US as a politically reckless country with a tradition or tendency for waging wars, from its expansionist diplomacy and tradition with its fangs and claws, as well as the reality of the US military as a war machine that kills wherever it goes.

    It is no exaggeration to say that the GOP is increasingly becoming a Neo-Nazi party. Over the years, the GOP has displayed growing Neo-Nazi characteristics. Far-right extremists, represented by Kelly, Carlson and the like, have been preaching that other people and parties, who disagree with their views, are the enemies of the US. These people not only pose threats to the health and stability of US society, but also endanger the international community.

    Conservative commentator Kelly has his own radio program and TV shows. In 2010, Kelly ran for election to represent Arizona's 8th Congressional District. He won the Republican primary in August and lost in the November general election. That a C-list pundit can play a role in American politics, raise his voice in such a free manner in US media outlets is abnormal.

    These so-called intellectuals hyping up Neo-Nazi ideas in the media would be unacceptable in Europe or China, but Kelly has an audience in the US, which indicates the US values, society and governance are in a mess.

    The US has been a racist country since independence. The country's politicians may disagree, but their behaviors have come under the shadow of racism. In the past, native Americans were slaughtered in the name of "civilization." And even today, the US has been treating African Americans through divisive lens, marginalizing them.

    When US racist and genocidal war-driven rhetoric flourishes in US media reports, and when news media like Fox News are openly used to attack China, it is clear that the country is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. Kelly's words remind the world of the US' inhumane deeds in the past. It proves the US made no progress in terms of civilization, with the mindset still stuck in a backward state.

    The US is certainly no city upon a hill. Quite the contrary, when all the other countries are making marked progress in the 21st century, the elites and mainstream media in the US like Fox News are returning to barbarism. This is the US' misfortune.

    The author is a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn



    Yes, some of the inventive being spewed by mainstream/ establishment figures in the US these days is strait from Mussolini.

  3. #628
    Elite Mumbler
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    And "Wolf Warrior Diplomacy" sounds tame to you?

  4. #629
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    It's wolf whistling if they don't invade anybody. But for sure, the Chinese have stepped up their rhetoric too.

  5. #630
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Jesse Kelly are so vicious and irrational that they take China as their target
    turd whistling

  6. #631
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    Doesn't the sound emanating from the US seem a bit panicky, and even demeaning to you? Like a shrill harridan, cursing everything.

  7. #632
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Doesn't the sound emanating from the US seem a bit panicky, and even demeaning to you?
    Yes.



    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Like a shrill harridan, cursing everything.
    That sounds more like China . . . about everyone that doesn't kowtow to them

  8. #633
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Ignore the naysayers. China's democracy works?

    it’s not democracy, in any way shape or form

  9. #634
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    China's common prosperity boon to world

    BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The phrase common prosperity has gained prominence this year, as China is determined to bring better lives to more people.

    After winning the anti-poverty fight and completing the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China now has favorable conditions for promoting common prosperity.

    "China's level of economic development has reached a point at which all its citizens should be able to enjoy a reasonable standard of life," said John Ross, a British academic and senior fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China.

    More tangible progress toward common prosperity has been listed as one of China's key long-term targets through 2035 when the country is expected to achieve basic modernization.

    NEITHER POLARIZATION NOR EGALITARIANISM

    China's vision for common prosperity is set against the backdrop of rising global inequality, with COVID-19 exposing the accelerated social ruptures in some economies.

    "The yawning gap between rich and poor in some developed countries is one of the causes of social unrest. This is what China will try to avoid," said Quan Heng, an economist with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

    ......

    Chinese authorities have stressed that dependence on welfare makes people lazy and unwilling to work, which takes a toll on their initiatives and creativity. Large-scale and continuous welfare spending increases the tax burden on enterprises and individuals.

    "We should avoid falling into the trap of welfarism, and we will not encourage those trying to get something for nothing or provide for lazybones," said Han Wenxiu, a senior official with the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

    To realize common prosperity, the nation should first "make a bigger and better cake" through joint efforts of the people, and then divide and distribute the cake properly through rational institutional arrangements, read a statement released after the annual Central Economic Work Conference held earlier this month.

    CONCRETE MEASURES

    Over the past few years, the Chinese government has pursued the common prosperity agenda with a series of reforms.

    Important gateways to common prosperity include the adjustment of overly high incomes through channels such as taxes, more help for low-income groups through the provision of stronger public benefits and the expansion of the middle-income group.

    China has also intensified efforts to crack down on monopolies, curbed the disorderly expansion of capital, reined in the red-hot housing market, and stepped up supervision of the entertainment and education sectors.

    Blahblah-
    China's common prosperity boon to world_英语频道_央视网(cctv.com)

  10. #635
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Thanks.

    For the people, with the people, what's to dislike.

  11. #636
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    The phrase common prosperity has gained prominence this year, as China is determined to bring better lives to more people.


  12. #637
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Important gateways to common prosperity include the adjustment of overly high incomes through channels such as taxes, more help for low-income groups through the provision of stronger public benefits and the expansion of the middle-income group.
    Like most of the rest of the western world . . . and you have morons going
    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Thanks

  13. #638
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    Hollywood has fallen into disfavor in China due to its distorted values and competitionfrom Asian films, not politics





    Hollywood falling into disfavor in Chinese film market is mainly due to its distorted values of "political correctness" and improper use of Chinese elements in their films, and its dominating position in the world is being threatened by high quality films from other countries including South Korea and India. It is not politics that drive the world's largest film market, but film quality and the tastes of the audience.

    Hollywood Reporter on Monday reported that the cooling off of the Hollywood-Chinese film market romance is mainly due to the impact of the Chinese government, but this is totally wrong. The fact that The Matrix Resurrections will be released in the Chinese mainland on January 14, 2022, refutes this take.

    China has not refused to give opportunities to Hollywood, but it is just that Hollywood has shot itself in the foot by making a lot of films with problematic values in order to pursue "political correctness."

    Take Eternals for example, one scene sees a black gay superhero kneel and burst into tears after the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. If this film had been released in the Chinese mainland, one can only imagine what the reaction of Chinese moviegoers would be to this outrageous scene, especially amid China's National Memorial Day, a day of remembrance that pays tribute to the 300,000 casualties of the notorious Nanjing Massacre in WWII. If such a massacre had happened in the US, what would Americans think about the film?

    Eternals takes Hollywood's twisted "political correctness" to its extreme.

    Meanwhile, many Hollywood films in recent years have led to another type of self-defeating result in the Chinese film market as studios rushed to add many Chinese elements to films to attract moviegoers, but failed as they did not really understand Chinese history or culture and so did not implement them correctly.

    Disney's live-action film Mulan is one of the most reprehensive failed works in China. Its poor performance in the Chinese film market proves that trying to make a Chinese story without truly understanding Chinese culture cannot win the hearts of the Chinese audience. Then you have Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a supposedly eye-catching "Asian superhero" story, which is actually full of stereotypes about China.

    Chinese audiences do not want such biased works released in their mother country. Should the Chinese film authority allow these films to enter just because they are Marvel films?

    A drop in quality is another factor.

    In 2019, Avengers: Endgame was a smashing success in China, but Wonder Women 1984 only grossed 167 million yuan ($26 million) in the mainland in 2020. Though the outbreak of the pandemic may be one reason for the poor box office, the film's poor quality is the largest factor behind its poor performance.

    It seems that Hollywood has not realized that it is gradually losing its advantage when you consider the high quality films coming out of Asia, such as hit films from South Korea and India. Films from neighboring countries have a much easier time arousing empathy among the Chinese audience.

    Since the film market also follows the law of survival of the fittest, it only makes sense that China has the right to pick which movies best fit the tastes of the Chinese audience.

    Politics is not the biggest factor in any film market but rather films with good quality and the correct values that fit the tastes of the audience. If Hollywood continues creating works to adhere to the concept of "political correctness" or making tedious sequels starring fictional Western superheroes without any innovation, it will eventually be abandoned by the global market, especially the Chinese film market, one day.


    https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202112/1243212.shtml


    Having a dig at Hollywood now- sacrilege. Then again, couldn't help but notice that 2 of the three highest grossing films of 2021 were Chinese.





  14. #639
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Authorities in S China's Baise in hot water for suspicion of violating Chinese law on parading violators through streets


    By Leng Shumei Published: Dec 30, 2021 01:43 AM

    "Authorities in the city of Baise, in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, are in the middle of a controversy after they paraded four suspects of illegal human trafficking through the streets as a punishment for violating anti-epidemic rules. Some experts and netizens noted that this violated Chinese law and exposed problems in grassroots management although the penalty may help deter lawbreakers.

    According to videos circulating on social media platforms on Wednesday, eight police officers escorted four suspects walking through a busy street in Jingxi, Baise, with a crowd surrounding them and watching.

    The eight police officers and four suspects all wore head-to-toe protective suits. Boards showing the suspects' photos and names hung on the suspects' chest and back.

    According to media reports, the four suspects helped others illegally cross Chinese borders while the country was under strict border management and required all international arrivals to quarantine amid the severe pandemic. Leading them through the street is a strategy by the local authorities to reveal the cases and warn the public.

    The authorities also placed notices on the wall with the suspects' photos, names and other personal information.

    They told media that these measures are in accordance with local anti-epidemic regulations and are "not improper."

    Border areas in Guangxi have enhanced measures to avoid the spread of coronavirus, including encouraging residents to report information on illegal crossings, amid mounting epidemic control pressure in winter and sporadic outbreaks that were traced to imported sources.

    The issue soon became a hot topic on Chinese social media platforms. Related posts have received more than 350 million views and over 30,000 comments as of Wednesday night.

    Some netizens hailed and supported the move. They commented on the video that stowaways seriously damage the anti-epidemic efforts of Chinese authorities and the life of residents of the border city. They said they consider this to be "proper" and "necessary" considering the risk of importing virus.

    Two suspects separately surnamed Bi and Huang in Jingxi were approved the arrest by the local procuratorate on Monday as they helped two foreigners illegally cross the Chinese border in October. One of the stowaways was found positive for the novel coronavirus, leading to about 50,000 residents in Jingxi being quarantined at home, which seriously affected the local economy and local people's livelihoods.

    However, some netizens pointed out that the measure is suspected of violating Chinese law.

    Experts also pointed out that, although it is understandable that the Baise authority was trying to prevent crimes with special measures during special period and solidate the hard-won achievement in fighting virus, it is clear that the behavior is suspected of violating the law and is improper.

    The Ministry of Public Security of China issued a notice in February last year, clearly requiring local authorities to properly implement laws and banning rude law enforcement. The notice came after many authorities across the country, especially those at the village level, were denounced for rude and excessive law enforcement on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    For example, a village official in North China's Hebei Province was investigated in January, 2020, for tying a local resident to a tree for going out to buy cigarettes during the COVID-19 lockdown.

    As to the punishment of parading suspects through the street, the Global Times found that the Supreme People's Court of China, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security have jointly released numerous notices since the 1980's to ban parading criminals or suspects through the streets to warn the public as this could cause a bad impact.

    A notice issued in June 1988, said that such measure should be rectified and related officials should be punished.

    However, according to media reports, Guangxi regional authority issued a notice on July 27, 2021 to crack down on illegal border crossings and smuggling amid tight anti-epidemic management.

    The notice listed ten punishments for illegal border crossing suspects, including releasing their information to the public, punishing them strictly according to the law and stopping their subsidy.

    At least three places in Guangxi, Jingxi, Daxin county and Napo county, have reportedly held activities to parade the suspects to the public since the notice was issued.

    Zhu Wei, a profess or from the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Wednesday that some netizens think that this is effective to warn the public. However, the point is such punishment violates Chinese law and the principle of rule of law.

    It also insults the dignity of citizens, which is protected by the law, Zhu said.

    If local authorities want to warn the public, they can punish violators sternly according to the law but the actions of the authorities in Baise are improper, Zhu noted.

    Releasing these suspects' personal information is also a violation of Chinese civil law to protect civilians' privacy, Zhu noted.

    The above-mentioned suspects Bi and Huang were punished by standing in front of the public on December 21, before the procuratorate approved their arrest, which experts said violated the procedural justice of law enforcement.

    Amid controversy, the authority in Jingxi, Baise told media that they had noticed the discussion on social media. The authorities in Napo and Daxin have not made any response so far."


    Authorities in S China's Baise in hot water for suspicion of violating Chinese law on parading violators through streets - Global Times

    It is reported that some Chinese citizens illegally assisted people across the Chinese boarder, who were COVID-19 positive.

    It is reported the local authorities paraded the Chinese citizens through the city as punishment deemed unacceptable and against Chinese laws.

  15. #640
    Thailand Expat HermantheGerman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Having a dig at Hollywood now- sacrilege. Then again, couldn't help but notice that 2 of the three highest grossing films of 2021 were Chinese.
    I guess ALL Chinese (and other communist twats) were forced to watch the film at least three times

    The Battle at Lake Changjin is the most expensive film ever made in China to date, with a budget of $200 million.The film's story was commissioned by the publicity department of the Chinese Communist Party and announced as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

  16. #641
    Thailand Expat HermantheGerman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Authorities in S China's Baise in hot water for suspicion of violating Chinese law on parading violators through streets
    Parading?!? They just disappear and that's it.
    You know like the Tian'anmen-Massacer

  17. #642
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Another brick in the wall.

    UAE Embraces Beijing by Scraping F-35 Deal with the US

    29.12.2021 Author: Salman Rafi Sheikh

    "A major blow has been inflicted to the US standing and influence in the Middle East by the UAE that is scraping the F-35 deal with Washington. This decision comes on the back of some stubborn US efforts to dissuade the UAE from acquiring the Chinese 5G expertise. The US has been doing everything it could to force Abu Dhabi into sacrificing its relations with China for the longest time, but the UAE decided to to turn its back on Washington, leaving it in a quandary.

    The first major stike to the US tactics of using its military industrial complex to achieve its foreign policy objectives came almost a month ago when Abu Dhabi first made a deal with France to purchase 80 state of the art Rafael fighter jets. According to former UK ambassador to the Syria, Peter Ford, the UAE has valid reasons to pull itself out of the deal because of the “arrogant” US demands.
    Although the US officials continue to emphasise that the US ties with the UAE are rock-solid, reports even in the western media have shown how tensions surrounding the UAE’s refusal to jump on the anti-China bandwagon being led by the US have directly contributed to the present crisis.

    For the US, Chinese presence in the Middle East is a major problem.

    According to the 2020 Pentagon report on China’s expanding military presence in the Middle East, the UAE happens to be among the countries Beijing is “very likely already considering and planning for additional overseas military logistics facilities to support naval, air, and ground forces.” The report also said the expansion of China’s 5G technology to countries, including the UAE, will also help set Beijing itself as a global leader in at least 10 different industries, some of which directly relate to defense. For the US, therefore, preventing Beijing’s rise is imperative – a task Washington hopes to achieve by persuading, or forcing and coercing, its friends, including the UAE.
    This imperative received another hyper-boost when the US intelligence agencies reported in November-2021 that China was secretly building a military facility at a port in the UAE, leading the Biden administration to “send a warning” to the Emirati officials that Chinese military presence in the UAE could permanently damage the US-UAE ties.

    The UAE has obviously not bowed down, showing the very limits of the pressure the US can actually exert through such pressure tactics. For the UAE, China is far more important an ally than Washington, at least in the economic and technology spheres.The China-UAE bilateral trade has overcome the negative impacts of the global pandemic for almost two consecutive years, a top Chinese diplomat told Emirates News Agency (WAM). The bilateral trade during the first nine months of 2021 has exceeded the value of US$49 billion, a 38.1 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year, revealed Ni Jian, Chinese Ambassador to the UAE. This trade is on top of the fact that more than 6,000 Chinese firms have developed business in the UAE, involving energy, ports, infrastructure, communications, finance, and other sectors, the ambassador said. As compared to the UAE-China trade, the US-UAE trade stood merely at US$17.8 billion in 2020.

    For the US, therefore, the UAE is already very much a ‘Chinese territory’; therefore, giving the UAE the F-35s without enough strings attached to them could possibly allow China to ‘steal’ the US technology. The significance of ‘protecting’ US technology has increased manifold in the wake of growing US interest in building a global coalition against China to restrict its ability to develop into a super power capable of establishing a new, multilateral world order. But the UAE has shown no interest in countering China. The message it sent to US made it clear in unambiguous terms.

    According to reports in the western media, Abu Dhabi told the US officials that they intended to halt the deal because “Abu Dhabi thought security requirements the US had laid out to safeguard the high-tech weaponry from Chinese espionage were too onerous.” These strings are putting the country’s national sovereignty in jeopardy in ways not acceptable to UAE, the officials further stressed.

    The UAE’s decision to scrap the F-35 deal and embrace Huawei’s 5G technology means that the impact of this decision could trickle down to other countries currently facing similar pressure from the US to scrap their ties with Beijing.

    What could really facilitate the ripple effect is the now well-known fact that the US opposition to Huawei’s 5G has nothing to do with security, and that it is mainly a US ploy to maintain its hegemony in the technology sphere. Whereas China has already become a super-power in manufacturing sector, its capacity to lead technological innovation could very well dethrone the US in yet another sector of development.

    That the Biden administration is only using the 5G question to roll-back China from the UAE is evident from the fact that the original US-UAE agreement that the Trump administration had approved on its very last day included no clause concerning China, Huawei or the UAE’s use of its 5G technology. The fact that the Biden administration has pulled these two unrelated issues together only now to cut off the economic, technological and political ties between the UAE and China has led Abu Dhabi to assert its own position as well.

    The UAE’s refusal to disengage with China shows that the US tactics are working only against its own interests. While the US wants to contain China, the fact that opposite of containment is happening means that the US is largely containing its own options in the Middle East and beyond"



    UAE Embraces Beijing by Scraping F-35 Deal with the US | New Eastern Outlook

  18. #643
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    OhOh.

    Former Chinese coal-mining city of Hegang in dire financial straits


    Commentators say the city's financial woes are the tip of the iceberg, amid spiraling local government debt.


    Authorities in the northeastern Chinese city of Hegang have announced a hiring freeze as the city faces massive debt, amid an inability to fully pay those already on its payroll.


    "Due to the Hegang municipal government's fiscal readjustment in the face of major changes in the fiscal situation ... [we are] canceling grass-roots recruitment of employees for government departments," the city government's human resources department said in a social media post last week.


    The post was deleted over the weekend after it prompted massive comment and speculation on Chinese social media platforms,


    Hegang's finances have been in severe difficulty for some time, with spending cuts introduced in June 2021 in a bid to contain the problem, which has been exacerbated by the recent closures of coal mines, the city's former industrial base.


    The news comes amid growing interest in civil service jobs in China, with an increase of nearly a quarter in national civil service examination registrations in 2021, compared with last year.


    And Hegang isn't the only local government in potential trouble. Every province except Shaanxi had seen a rise in its debt-to-GDP ratio by June 2020, the South China Morning Post cited official figures as saying.


    Last September, a Goldman Sachs report said local government debt had risen to some 52 percent of GDP, with 53 trillion yuan owed via local government financing vehicles at the end of 2020.


    Chinese current affairs commentator Li Li said Hegang has also had to contend with falling property prices and high unemployment in the past year, while the government has already cut civil service salaries in a bid to keep existing staff.


    "Civil servant salary cuts are happening everywhere this year," Li said. "Hegang is remote and the economy underdeveloped, and property is going for a song; you can barely give it away."

    'Tip of the iceberg'
    Li warned: "Hegang is just the tip of the iceberg; the economy is doing so badly across the whole country right now; it's unbelievable."


    Current affairs commentator Xiang Wei said Hegang is likely on the verge of bankruptcy.


    "There's been the decline in housing prices, the civil servant hiring freeze, and even cuts in the number of existing civil servants," Xiang told RFA. "This all indicates financial difficulties."


    "Hegang is on the verge of bankruptcy right now."


    Hegang currently has a population of 980,000, with debts amounting to more than 13.1 billion yuan last year, an increase of more than 1.5 billion yuan over the previous year, making a per capita debt of 13,000 yuan.


    Wang Jing, a resident of the northeastern province of Jilin, said the region's retail and service industries have been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing local government tax revenues to plummet.


    "The economy has been in recession since the pandemic, as everything started to shut down, and employers have been unable to pay wages," Wang said. "The real estate market is collapsing, and local governments are in deficit, hence the layoffs."


    Hegang's difficulties come amid civil servant wage cuts in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Shanghai. with the salary of a Shanghai police station chief slashed from 350,000 yuan per annum to 200,000 yuan this year.


    Social media posts have reported that Shanghai, Jiangxi, Henan, Shandong, Chongqing, Hubei and Guangdong have all suspended civil servant bonuses or asked employees to repay them, while housing subsidies and performance bonuses were rolled back in Guangdong's Chaozhou and Shanwei cities.

    Tight finances after pandemic
    Writer and researcher Tan Zuoren said he could confirm the reports.


    "Civil servant performance bonuses have been canceled or even reclaimed in around seven, eight or 10 provinces, with some officials ordered to return bonuses already paid out," Tan said.


    "Government finances are pretty tight, for a number of reasons ... especially the pandemic, which has caused a fall in tax revenues and increased expenditure at the same time," he said.


    Commentator Rao Yiming said that will leave more than 80 percent of civil servants on a basic wage of 3,000-5,000 a month, shorn of the many bonuses and housing subsidies that made their lives more comfortable.


    "Performance and subsidies account for more than 60 percent of civil servants' income, so this will widens the income gap between coastal and inland civil servants," Rao said.


    "The southeast coast has ample financial resources, and it's not uncommon for civil servants in that region to receive year-end performance awards of 100,000-200,000 yuan, while some counties and cities in the [poorer] central and western regions in financial difficulties will only pay out between 3,000 and 50,000 yuan, and some nothing at all," he wrote in a recent commentary for RFA's Mandarin Service.


    Scholar Li Ang said the current belt-tightening will mean that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will prioritize paying military and police salaries, while the income of other civil servants could drop at any time.


    "They give priority to the army and the police," Li said. "If they don't, then they may not be able to maintain social stability."


    "Ordinary civil servants protesting or criticizing them won't do them any harm."

    Former Chinese coal-mining city of Hegang in dire financial straits — Radio Free Asia

  19. #644
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Corrected and attributed the quote for #727 (The View, from China)

    "President Abraham Lincoln: "Government of the people, by the people and for the people"

  20. #645
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    "President Abraham Lincoln: "Government of the people, by the people and for the people"
    Definitely nothing to do with chinkystan then.

  21. #646
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    MIND WARFARE Inside China’s terrifying ‘brain control weapons’ capable of ‘paralysing enemies and its own people’ with mystery tech



    CHINA is developing terrifying brain control weapons which could be used to paralyse and control its enemies and its own people, a report says.
    Washington has reportedly sanctioned Beijing's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 other research firms for using 'biotechnology'.


    3

    China. is developing a 'brain control' weapon, the US has claimedCredit: ReutersOne of the weapons reportedly being developed is "purported brain-control weaponry", according to the Washington Times.

    The Chinese institutes were blacklisted by America's Commerce Department last week.

    The government department did not go into detail about the sinister weapons - however 2019 military documents seen by the news outlet did offer some insight.

    China wants to "paralyse and control the opponent" by "attacking the enemy's will to resist", the report says.

    The weapon would not be used to kill or "destroy bodies", the docs reportedly state.

    After being placed on the "entity list", American firms can no longer export or transfer goods to the banned Chinese institutes without a licence.

    Inside China’s terrifying ‘brain control weapons’ capable of ‘paralysing enemies and its own people’ with mystery tech


  22. #647
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Washington has reportedly sanctioned Beijing's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 other research firms for using 'biotechnology'
    Kettle calls pot black.

  23. #648
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    MIND WARFARE Inside China’s terrifying ‘brain control weapons’ capable of ‘paralysing enemies and its own people’ with mystery tech
    Judging by the bollocks our snivelling chinky sycophants trot out, it works.

  24. #649
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    So that explains it- the Chinese fried your brain.

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    Western Propaganda on Xinjiang: What's the next target?

    A false forced labor accusation was all that was needed for the US to sanction the solar companies, cut the lifelines of their workers and undermine the effort to tackle climate change.








    Worth the 15 minutes- kind of a 'propaganda for dummies' primer, as well as some interesting facts on Xinjiang's prominence in the global solar energy industry.

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