GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON #213
Friends of China – as I count myself – often talk positively about China in order to correct a fundamental imbalance between how China is achieving + how China is reported. So the Friends focus on the surging level of material prosperity; the lifting of 750m+ people out of poverty; and the decisive manner in which China-controlled Covid-19.
But life is not just full of progress + free of problems. So two main problems for China going forward. First, widening wage differentials. People at the top earn much more than people at the bottom. China’s planners know that this problem will have to be addressed. Unaddressed + discontent occurs big time.
A second problem – many of the rural peasantries are unable to find work in the cities or on the land. They need to be re-trained + educated otherwise they will be left on the margins + become angry.
There are other issues – a mismatch in marriage with too many men failing to realise that sharing family duties is essential. Women need to be respected more in a society that has always been male-dominated.
China talks about these problems + action will follow or instability will arise.
I live in the US but read CGTN online and watch their TV programs regularly 1/. Insofar as your 2nd issue is concerned, I believe they are actively doing something about it. My impression is that they were not moved into cities per se, but into newly constructed communities/villages with modern facilities 2/ and easy access to highways/thoroughfares to the cities . Quite often these townships are located in scenic areas, so they could provide lodging and meals for weekenders from nearby cities and earn some income. Some even started to till the surrounding areas into orchards or farms, so that the produce can easily be transported to cities for sale. Some still travel to work (my impression again) on their own plot of land daily where it is now made easy to get to because prior to moving the government had build highways into the area, so that they can easily bring their crops back to where they live and sell them in the cities.
1/ particularly their documentaries. 2/ Their assigned cadre(s) would studiously teach and demonstrate how to use them. My impression is that the cadres assigned live among the people, and are their teachers, protectors, beloved friend and helpers.