China Reform Monitor: No. 1163

April 29:

Beijing has confirmed that a "manhunt" and "investigation" are under way into the murder of three Chinese residents in the border city ofHelong, Jilin by three armed North Korean army deserters, Yonhap reports. The victims were a 67-year-old man, a 55-year-old man and his 26-year-old daughter. It is not uncommon for North Korean soldiers to cross the border into Chinese towns and rob or kill Chinese residents. On December 28, a North Korean army deserter killed four Chinese citizens during another robbery in Helong.

May 3:

By the end of 2014, China had over 88.2 million Communist Youth League (CYL) members and more than 3.87 million grassroots CYL organizations. CYL also announced awards for 25 young people, including villagers, scholars, businesspersons, cadres of grassroots Communist Party organizations and military officers. Honorary titles were given to individuals and groups for their outstanding service to CYL organizations. "The CYL is the organization of youths with progressive ideas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is regarded by China as a patriotic movement against imperialism and feudalism. It acts as the assistant and reserve for the CPC," the official Xinhua news agency reports.

May 4:

China is Kenya's second most valued development partner after the U.S., according to an Ipsos survey on foreign countries' Perceived Impact on Kenya's Development. Respondents were asked which nation is Kenya's most important development partner: 35 percent said the U.S., 23 percent said China, 7 percent said the UK, 6 percent said Japan, 4 percent said South Africa, 3 percent said Germany, and Nigeria and Russia tied with 1 percent. When polled along political party lines, more than 47 percent of Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) supporters chose the U.S, compared to 13 percent who said China. Of Jubilee supporters 29 percent said the U.S. and 33 percent chose China. Kenyans also cited "China as a main threat to the country's politics and economy," with 28 percent citing China as a foe, followed by USA with 21 percent and UK 5 percent, The Star reports. “Once again a clear contrast emerges in terms of coalition alignment,” the report said. Among Cord loyalists, China is the biggest worry at 35 percent, while the U.S. is the most unsettling to 28 percent of Jubilee supporters.

May 5:

Shanghai has enacted new rules to prevent the spouses and children of top local officials from entering private business and profiting from their family government connections. "If we can't prevent corruption and abuse of power, if we can't provide justice through our rules and regulations, reforms won't win the support of the people. Where should we start? It must start with leaders disciplining their families," said Han Zheng, the Shanghai CPC secretary. The new rules cover only Shanghai officials and do not prevent connected families in Beijing or other parts of the country from doing business in Shanghai. Thekin of top Shanghai officials remain free to do business outside the city, the New York Times reports.

[Editor's Note: In recent years, many officials' families and their business partners have moved their companies from Beijing and Shanghai to more remote corners of the country. Duan Weihong, a business partner of former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's daughter, recently moved one of her holding companies from Beijing to Tibet. Others have relocated to Xinjiang.]

May 9:

China's low-cost national education system ranked 1 out of 65 nations in thelatest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test. The U.S., by contrast, scored 36 in math, 28 in science, and 24 in reading, Business Insider reports. Fifteen-year-olds take the PISA every three years, and it has become the gold standard for ranking country educational systems. "Chinese education produces excellent test scores, a short-term outcome that can be achieved by rote memorization and hard work," said education expert Yong Zhao. "But like the Chinese government itself, it does not produce a citizenry of diverse, creative, and innovative talent." China's system excels at transmitting a narrow amount of content and skills. Students have an average of 14 hours of homework a week, compared with an average of six hours per week in the U.S. This hard work doesn't improve innovation, according to the Harvard Business Review, which expressed doubts about China's "bounded" education and political systems. The U.S. should end its fixation on standardized testing, which Zhao argues, amount to adopting China's methods and "reflect America's embrace of authoritarianism."