May 10:
To "help them seek a better life,” China will relocate 10 million of its 70 million impoverished people to less disadvantaged areas, said Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. The relocation of 2 million poor people, including those with annual income less than 2,300 RMB ($350), will begin this year with some being relocated to localities with better public services, the official China Daily reports. Others will move to economic development zones or industrial parks, the rest will be relocated to places near roads or water, Liu said.
May 14:
The Communist Party of China (CPC) is building relations with Venezuela's opposition, which is trying to force President Nicolas Maduro's recall or resignation. Contacts began last July in New York, despite Venezuelan government warnings to foreign diplomats not to meet with individuals trying to "destabilize the country.” Following its landslide victory in December's congressional elections, opposition leaders traveled to Beijing on the CPC's invitation. China's ambassador has dined with the same opposition leaders, who once accused China of acting as Maduro's enabler. They have softened their criticism, however, in the hopes that China may ease repayment terms to help Venezuela stave off an economic meltdown, the Associated Press reports. Caracas foreign reserves are at a 13-year low, inflation is forecast to surpass 700 percent this year, and the oil it once used as loan collateral has plunged in value.
May 15:
This month the Ministry of Education and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly announced a plan to reform university enrolment quotas to make admissions more equitable. The current system, which is based on household registration (hukou), gives preference to local residents and students who want to attend a university beyond their locality must have much higher entrance exam scores. Authorities are now requiring universities in 14 "developed provinces” including Hubei and Jiangsu, and cities like Beijing and Shanghai, to admit 210,000 students from poorer inland provinces like Henan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Gansu. The new system is not equitable, however. Universities in Hubei and Jiangsu must offer nearly 80,000 seats to outside students, while universities in Beijing can reserve more spots for local residents. In response, thousands of angry parents demonstrated in front of provincial government buildings in Wuhan, Hubei and Nanjing, Jiangsu filing protest petitions, theSouth China Morning Post reports.
May 15
The fate of economic reform is uncertain ahead of a crucial reshuffle of CPC leaders at the 19th National Congress in November. After relying on debt-driven cash injections in the first half of the year, an anonymous "authoritative person" was quoted on the front page of the official People's Daily saying that debt-fueled growth could undermine the health of the economy. The senior official said in the coming years economic growth would be "L-shaped", suggesting a stabilization following steep declines, rather than "U-shaped" or "V-shaped" indicating a strong rebound after bottoming out. China's GDP grew 6.7 percent and industrial activity and property prices rebounded in the first quarter thanks to extensive lending and infrastructure investment. But without more loans many analysts believe China would experience a severe economic slowdown, crumbling property market, and falling share prices, the South China Morning Postreports. A few days before the People's Daily story, securities regulators and media censors warned mainland-based analysts against airing negative statements about the economy.
May 23:
A two-year study by Peking University has found that children left behind by parents that migrated to cities for work are more likely to turn to crime, the SCMP reports. Zhang Dandan studied 1,200 criminals and found that 17 percent were children left in impoverished rural areas with relatives or by themselves. In 2010, China had some 60 million left-behind children living in rural areas, almost triple the number in 2000. Zhang said that children left alone by parents were more likely to take risks, or commit crimes such as robbery and kidnapping. "A large number of them dropped out of school in their early teens, and every one of them received little care when they grew up. Due to a lack of parental guidance, the kids failed to build up a proper moral conscience and were more inclined to conduct criminal activities," Zhang said. She called for reforming the household registration system (hukou) to allow more children to live with their parents and attend schools in cities.
[Editor's Note: The issue of left-behind children gained national prominence last year after four children in Guizhou committed suicide by drinking pesticide. Two other children were abused and murdered by relatives, while on another occasion five homeless were found dead in a dumpster. The incidents sparked media reports have questioned policies that focus on economic development and ignore the welfare of migrant workers and their children.]