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Life in China China Addresses Wealth Divide
Life in China China Addresses Wealth Divide | China Addresses Wealth Divide |
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"Yi, er, san, click." The familiar sound of a camera on Tinanmen Square rings out from the tourist throes. But last week the line between innocent sightseer and secret policeman was blurred. The annual session of the National People's Congress, the highest organ of state power, ran for ten days and security was at its tightest. The road running alongside the Great Hall of the People, the four walls in which China's political decisions are made, was cordoned off and monopolised by the black Audis that ferry around delegates. Snack stalls rubbed shoulders with white vans that waited to welcome protestors considered a threat to social stability. A giant screen in the north west of Beijing , which beamed live pictures to the masses, showed Communism at its most robust. On stage sat the Standing Committee to the backdrop of the party emblem and red triangular flags in perfect symmetry. Before them sat around 3,000 delegates from around the country. The colourful dress of ethnic minority groups from rural parts of the south stood out as a fine advert for equal opportunities and commanded significant camera time. Furthest away from the stage domestic and international journalists transferred words to type. The chasm between rich and poor in China has been well documented and in his opening address on Sunday March 5, Premier Wen Jiabao revealed the government's determination to start filling it in. According to official estimates, there were 87,000 incidents of unrest in rural areas last year – it is widely held that these kinds of statistics can be multiplied by at least five. In response, the government has pledged to create a "new socialist countryside". The policy of improving the living standards of the 750 million people – 60 per cent of the country's population - living in rural areas has been well received, particularly with the announcement of free compulsory education for children in the countryside. The scale of the inequality gap is apparent and closing it will be a mammoth task. The government aims to increase the per capita net income of rural residents by 5 per cent annually over the next five years. That is a rise from 3,255 yuan to 4,150 yuan in 2010, which equates to a boost of £63. Meanwhile incomes in urban areas will surely march on. There are also calls for the free education policy to help children of migrant workers that leave rural areas to find jobs in the cities. The Xingzhi Experimental School in Beijing educates 3,000 children from 24 provinces. The cacophony of different dialects must be head-splitting. But if parents want to send these kids to a decent school in the capital, they have to pay more than their local counterparts as they lack the crucial permanent residence certificate. There are 150 million migrant workers in China and with the advent of free education many children will be sent home to the countryside to benefit. But the likelihood is that at least one parent will have to remain working in the city, raising the social problem of family break-up. Chris O’Brien Having almost sated his penchant for a four-legged gamble, Chris traded London life as a horse racing journalist for Beijing life as a “Foreign expert”. The phrases “One-China policy” and “the creation of a harmonious society” have become etched in his vocabulary through working for the state-run Xinhua News Agency and he has quickly accepted that being 6ft 4in tall is not particularly normal in China. |
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