Current Events

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist

Scooter drivers pass by man burning to death on Guangdong street

"What are they supposed to do, spit on him?" argued one netizen

Quote

Video from the scene on Thursday morning in the city of Zhanjiang shows a man standing by the side of the road covered in flames that are shooting up to twice his height.

 

Another clip filmed by another person shows the man lying on the road, still covered in flames, as multiple people ride past on their scooters with barely a look in his direction — apparently they had places to go.

 

A security guard then approaches with a fire extinguisher and manages to put out the blaze.

 

In the few seconds of footage, several people pass by the burning man without doing anything to help. Presumably, many more did the same thing before one of the bystanders decided to start filming from a car.

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the NY Times

 

 

U.S. Hits Back at China With New Visa Restrictions on Journalists

 

• The Trump administration is imposing 90-day limits on work visas for Chinese journalists, raising the threat of further retaliation by the Chinese government.

Chinese journalists in the United States who try to do independent journalism privately expressed worries about the future of their work, and said they did not want to be caught in the middle of such a conflict. American journalists in China have voiced similar concerns.

The new rules in the United States also apply to the handful of Chinese citizens working for non-Chinese foreign outlets.

In announcing the restrictions, American officials said the rules were necessary to counterbalance the “suppression of independent journalism” in China. The move raises the likelihood of further retaliation from Beijing against journalists from American news outlets. In March, the Chinese government expelled almost all American journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, arguing that the move was “entirely necessary and reciprocal.” Each of those outlets still has at least one full-time correspondent in mainland China, mostly non-Americans.

 

 

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Covid-19: Chinese scholar held by police after calling for political reform

 

• Widely shared open letter posted on WeChat urges legislature to draft a new constitution, release political prisoners and remove Communist Party’s status
• Three police cars arrive at his house the following day, friend says

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from Yahoo News

"China is by far our largest market," fruit trader Tran Van Sang, 42, told AFP at his warehouse in Luc Ngan -- a small town just north of Hanoi which is taken over by lychees during the tropical fruit's short six-week season.

Some 60 percent of Vietnam's lychee crop is exported to China, according to official figures

But the trade is highly vulnerable to political bickering between the communist neighbours, driving a shift into new markets with Vietnamese lychee exported to Australia and America for the first time this year.

Last year, peak season arrived in the middle of a bitter maritime standoff, sparked after Beijing moved an oil rig into waters claimed by Hanoi in the South China Sea.

"It was difficult -- we had a bumper crop but the Chinese buyers didn't come," said Sang.

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and the countries' volatile relationship typically doesn't impact overall trade and investment links.

But it has a dramatic effect on some sectors, like the lychee, a fruit native to northern Vietnam and southern China. Last year, traders said whole unsold consignments of lychee were simply left to rot in border areas.

After China woes, Vietnam's lychee farmers head to new markets

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook - PopeYes in Shanghai

https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/2640734486245395/

Quote

Customers line up Friday to visit the first Popeyes

to open on the Chinese mainland. The line for the restaurant's new Shanghai location began forming at 4 a.m., local media reported.

(Photos courtesy of Yu Tianying)

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Skyrocketing airfare prices in China - from the Sixth Tone

 

The Airfare Scandal Rocking China’s Travel Industry

Brick-and-mortar travel agents played a major role in China’s flight-booking market. Then they landed in a dispute over sky-high air ticket prices amid COVID-19.

 

The agency run by Cai and Fang is one such business. Founded in 2004, the Shanghai-based firm has survived by helping companies arrange international business trips, with their profits coming from the service fees charged to clients.

But this business model suddenly became untenable after travel agents were accused of charging Chinese citizens sky-high prices for flights back home as they tried to flee European capitals.

The first signs of trouble for agents emerged in early March. China’s COVID-19 epidemic had largely subsided, but the country was wary of a second wave of infections beginning as people returned to China from Europe, the United States, and other areas seeing a rapid virus spread.

To contain the number of imported cases, Chinese authorities announced that from March 29 domestic airlines would have to drastically cut international flights to China. Each airline would only be allowed to operate one route per country, one flight per week for each route. Seat occupancy rates would be capped at 75%.

With thousands of Chinese citizens desperate to return home and escape the growing crisis in the West, the policy appeared certain to trigger a rush to secure seats on the few remaining flights. “Many overseas students were rushing to book flights to return home,” says Fang, whose business concentrates on connections between Shanghai and London.

Airfares soon skyrocketed.

By early April, travelers were being quoted prices of 86,900 yuan ($12,250) for a one-way, first-class ticket from London to Shanghai for May 4, according to Securities Daily. Economy-class tickets on other flights leaving Europe were priced as high as 100,000 yuan.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Helmet laws - from the Shanghaiist

 

All scooter riders in China will be required to wear a helmet next month

Tens of millions of people are rushing out to buy helmets in time

 

http://shanghaiist.com/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/modules/lazy-images/images/1x1.trans.gif

 

While the rule change may be well-intentioned, it was not terribly well-timed with China’s Ministry of Public Security announcing its “One Helmet, One Belt” (一盔一带) campaign on April 21, giving tens of millions of people a little more than a month to buy a helmet.

There are around 250 million registered electric scooters in China. Unregistered scooters could number as many as 50 million. Meanwhile, it is estimated that only 30 percent of Chinese scooter-riders even own a helmet.

That puts total demand at right around 200 million helmets. At the moment, Chinese manufacturers can only churn out a few thousand a day.

To help fill that enormous gap, over 3,500 new helmet-related enterprises have reportedly sprung up in China in the past month as the price of helmets has more than doubled.

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

China's CPPCC Two Sessions is 2 months late this year

https://www.facebook.com/115591005188475/posts/535662810450391/

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

What's Special About This Year's Two Sessions? - from iChonqing

Okay so I drifted off a couple of times

CGTN provides details about what they're actually talking about.

Two Sessions 2020: What's special this year?

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

"Employee sharing" in China - from the Sixth Tone

 

When Companies ‘Share’ Staff, Workers Lose Out

Loaning out employees helped a number of Chinese businesses weather the COVID-19 storm, but it shouldn’t be the new normal.

 

In China, the pandemic’s economic fallout has given rise to a new corporate buzzword: “employee sharing.” The idea first cropped up in February, when most cities were under varying degrees of lockdown or quarantine. As the outbreak stretched from days into weeks, stagnating offline consumption, employees’ inability to get back to work and unfunded local government mandates requiring firms to pay their employees for the duration of the shutdown left much of the private sector on life support.

The service and manufacturing industries were hit especially hard. In early February, Chinese restaurant chain Xibei reported that 20,000 of its employees were idle, and it only had enough operating capital to pay wages and other costs for an additional three months.

Meanwhile, online delivery and logistics platforms found themselves short-staffed as digital orders spiked. Xibei soon announced it had reached an agreement to “lend out” hundreds of employees to the fresh food delivery firm Hema Xiansheng. Xibei workers who agreed to undergo an interview, training, and physical examination and take temporary positions with Hema would have their wages paid by the delivery platform.

Other firms soon followed suit. Within a month, more than 4,000 people signed up for retail giant Suning’s “talent-sharing” plan, and Walmart announced it had recruited nearly 2,000 prospective employees after partnering with catering enterprises nationwide. E-commerce site JD.com and appliance manufacturer Haier also took on workers from businesses severely impacted by the epidemic.

Even the national government endorsed the model, with the country’s social security department permitting companies to share staff as long as the original employer was not “lending out employees for a profit.” Some observers have since suggested the practice could outlast the pandemic, heralding a new trend in human resources in which employees do not belong to a single enterprise, but are shared between multiple enterprises or across platforms.

Employee sharing did alleviate some of the difficulties faced by enterprises at the peak of China’s epidemic, while helping the country manage the associated spike in idle workers. However, if employee sharing is to go from exigency to a potential vision of the future, it’s important to understand the potential risks involved.

 

 

[Randy W]

from China Pictorial on Facebook

Quote

May 22: China's national legislature started its annual session Friday morning in Beijing.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the opening meeting of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, held at the Great Hall of the People. #twosessions

https://www.facebook.com/553929144732479/posts/2792911760834195/

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone

 

China Turns to Street Vendors to Revive Virus-Stricken Economy

To promote consumption and mitigate unemployment, China’s cities are welcoming mobile vendors back to the streets.

At least 27 cities nationwide, including major metropolises like Shanghai and Guangzhou, have vowed to support the once tightly controlled micro-economy in a bid to maximize consumption and minimize the effects of rising unemployment. Local governments are rolling out temporary policies allowing street vendors to operate in more areas, and some have even offered bank loans and other opportunities to give unlicensed vendors a leg up.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone - "Northern and Central parts of Guangxi"

around Guilin and Yangshuo

Quote

As of Saturday night, one person had died and over 323,000 had been affected by the widespread flooding caused by torrential rains in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Over 300,000 Affected as Guangxi Sees Worst Flooding in Years

At least one person has died, and forecasts indicate continued rainfall this week.

Quote

Several cities in the northern and central parts of Guangxi have seen steady, strong downpours since May 31, resulting in the worst flooding to hit the region in the past five to 10 years.

https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/2662013804117463/

 

Quote

Premiered 10 hours ago

Guilin, Guangxi emerges as a super-alarm flood, the cruise of Lijiang River is suspended 　　

Chinanews.com Guilin, June 7 (Ou Huilan, Yang Zongsheng) Since June 3, heavy rain weather has repeatedly attacked Guilin, Guangxi. Several rounds of heavy rain fall areas overlapped with the previous heavy rainfall process. On June 7, Yangshuo County, Guilin , Gongcheng County, Pingle County and other counties had super-alarm floods, and cruises and bamboo rafts in the Lijiang River were suspend... Guilin, June 7 (Ou Huilan, Yang Zongsheng) Since June 3, heavy rain weather has repeatedly attacked Guilin, Guangxi. Several rounds of heavy rain fall areas overlapped with the previous heavy rainfall process. On June 7, Yangshuo County, Guilin , Gongcheng County, Pingle County and other counties had super-alarm floods, and cruises and bamboo rafts in the Lijiang River were suspended. 　　

Due to continuous rains, the water level of the Lijiang River rises rapidly. In order to ensure the safety of water traffic, the Guilin Maritime Department informed that from 7:40 on June 7th, the Lijiang Essential Cruise Line will be closed to ships. The time will be notified separately. At present, the Lijiang bamboo rafts will also implement full-line closure control from June 4. 　　

Affected by heavy rainfall, Yongfu (Xihe) Hydrological Station appeared a flood peak level of about 142.30 meters (warning level is 139.00 meters) at about 9:30 on June 7, corresponding to a flow of 2700 cubic meters per second, which is a 10-year flood. . The Luoqing River in Yongfu County was flooded, and the cattle shed was hit by the flood. The cattle keeper caught the cattle on the bridge. 　　

According to the flood information at 10:50 on June 7 in Yangshuo County, in the past 24 hours, there has been a general downpour from heavy rain to some heavy rain in Yangshuo County. Rainfall is mainly concentrated in Gaotian Town, Baisha Town, and Jinbao Township. Affected by the rain, small and medium-sized rivers in the Jinbao River, Yulong River, Xingping River, and other rain areas in Yangshuo County will have a super-rising flooding process of about 1 to 2 meters. . At 10 o'clock, the water level of the Yangshuo Hydrological Station at Guijiang River was 110.58 meters, and the current water level is slowly rising. It is expected that the Guijiang Yangshuo Hydrological Station will have a flood level of about 112 meters (109.5 meters of warning level) around 17 o'clock on the 7th, with a corresponding flow of 4800 cubic meters. 　　

At present, 1881 households in Yangshuo County have been preliminarily counted, with a total area of 47,501 acres, 22,440 acres of fruits, 25,061 acres of other crops, 4 houses collapsed, no casualties, no livestock deaths. Twelve landslides occurred at 9:00 on the 7th. 　　

At present, some of the national roads and rural roads in Yangshuo County have deep water and traffic is interrupted; Xingping Wharf in Yangshuo County has deep water and traffic is interrupted; most roads in the county have flooded and vehicles have been flooded. Flood video. At present, Yangshuo has launched a three-level emergency response, and local disaster relief work is being carried out. 　　

It is expected that over the next 2 to 15 hours, the Lijiang River in Xingping Town of Yangshuo (120.0 meters of warning water level), Yangshuo County River section (109.5 meters of warning water level), and Pingle County River section (99.5 meters of warning water level) will appear to exceed the warning water level of 2~ A flood of about 3 meters; a flood of about 1 meter for the super-alarm will occur in the Gongcheng County section of the tributary of the Li River; Yangshuo, Pingle, Yongfu, Yanshan, Gongcheng, Lipu, Lingui and other counties (cities, districts) Super-alarm floods will occur in some small and medium rivers

Vehicles stuck on a bridge

https://www.facebook.com/100008027163603/vvideos/2708914359386110/

Edited January 13, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

That is awful. You guys didn't get anything like that, did you?

[Randy W]

That is awful. You guys didn't get anything like that, did you?

 

No - some rain, but no flooding. That was mainly around Guilin and Yangshuo