Why does The New York Times like this story?

[Billy]

I am very strange to see this story from the web. I don't know whay they like report this story. Is it about politics? What is the goal, for reader or misunderstand the readers?

China Crushes Peasant Protest, Turning 3 Friends Into Enemies

[tw]

Originally Posted by Billy

Is it about politics? What is the goal, for reader or misunderstand the readers?

I don't understand why you have a problem with this story. It is rather interesting in that it demonstrates the relationships between villages, provincial authorities, and the central Beijing government. How the complexities of politics in a rural village can even turn friends into adversaries and a cause a town to turn on one who might be working for them.

What in this story do you have a problem with?

[Billy]

I can understand the story well. My problem is why the NYT like cast this type stories. They can report the China economy status, people life. Why do they find one bad case (for us) to misubderstand the readers. I talked with the American friends who live in China. They told me that it is very different between the American media & China reality. The American media like report the very few bad things to show China. They like China want to live here for a long time. Some western friend can speak Manderian well.

[bluesdave]

Billy, the NYT is highlighting the fact that China is not a democracy. You live under the control of a ruthless, corrupt totalitarian government. If you protest too loudly you are shot.

This does not mean that there are no positive stories coming out of China, but that article does tell us what life is like for some of your fellow countrymen, even if your experiences differ.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Billy

I can understand the story well. My problem is why the NYT like cast this type stories. They can report the China economy status, people life. Why do they find one bad case (for us) to misubderstand the readers. I talked with the American friends who live in China. They told me that it is very different between the American media & China reality. The American media like report the very few bad things to show China. They like China want to live here for a long time. Some western friend can speak Manderian well.

My guess is that you mean the NY Times has 'type cast' an image of China. From my perspective, it does just the opposite. It actually humanizes Chinese country life. In many ways, it is the same story that was written in 1920s Chicago when crime bosses ruled that city and when the federal (central) government had little power to combat the corruption. It is similar to the Freedom Riders of early 1960 American South who were promised protection if they rode in a segregated bus. Instead the bus riders (black and white) and all nearby news reporters were severely beaten with baseball bats and other bone breaking weapons. An event that both confused and angered Attorney General Bobby Kennedy so much that he has to change how he thought.

Do we 'type cast' America because some 'nigger hating' southern racists, with the cooperation of both local Montgomery (city) and Alabama State Police, could beat the crap out of honest people ... and not even be prosecuted? No. Instead we published the story even on the front pages of European newspapers. It is what news is about and why honest news is so dangerous to the criminals.

The NY Times story says China is still stuggling with classic examples of new freedoms, the resulting corruption, leaders who are more interested in power than in working for the people, and a centralize government that is just too far away to help. It is a classic story told, at some point, in every nation. It does not give China a bad image. It says even China is going through what every nation must do to eventually empower its little people. These, unfortunately, are the stories we must all read about so that a country will not let its little people be subverted, intimidated, and hopelessly damned.

I see nothing disparaging about this article. Because this article exists, instead, it says even China has now become part of the world community. Some parts of China now suffer from the same few corrupt or misguided people that we all suffer from. And China is willing to let us all know who these people may be.

Don't worry about being 'politically correct'. 'PC' only leads to lies and corruption. Worry more about telling the honest truth no matter how much it hurts. In the long term, PC means more pain and corruption.

Notice that others do not see from a same perspective. If you tried to tell me that local provincial official were always honest, then I would say you are lying. Unlike others, I see this article as proof that China does have a long term, productive future. Every country has corrupt local officials. That is the imperfections of a more democratic system. An imperfection that only gets worse if we all - everywhere - don't openly discuss it. The most important image that China can project is honesty - which means even these type of stories must be told. The NY Times article also says that honest stories can now be reported in China. That is important for a positive Chinese image.

[Troubleshooter]

Commentary: Is China Running Out Of Workers?

http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/041015/b3905075_1.html

Friday October 15, 8:07 am ET
By Dexter Roberts in Beijing, with Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong

Back in 1989, Taiwanese businessman Hayes Lou moved his bicycle and motorcycle helmet factory from Superior, Mont., to the city of Dongguan, in Guangdong province, China. Over the past 15 years he and his partners have added another helmet factory in Jiangmen, and opened a second facility in Dongguan to make plastic packaging materials. The rapid growth of Lou's business has been made possible largely by one factor: plentiful, dirt-cheap labor, fed by the constant influx into Guangdong of millions of migrant workers from the countryside. Now, much to the surprise of Lou and tens of thousands of other factory owners across China, the endless supply of new workers can no longer be taken for granted. Lou's packaging factory, for instance, is running well below capacity because he has only been able to find 170 of the 300 workers he needs. And even though he has jacked up wages some 30% since the beginning of the year, to an average of $85 a month, turnover is getting worse. "Even when you get an order, you can't produce and ship it," says Lou, who is deputy director of the Dongguan Taiwan Business Assn. "Everyone in every kind of factory is short of workers."

It's not just Dongguan that's experiencing a labor shortage. A recent survey by the Labor & Social Security Ministry found that the Pearl River Delta of which the city is a part needs 2 million more laborers. Other major export manufacturing regions, including parts of Fujian province, across from Taiwan, and Zhejiang, bordering Shanghai, are also facing shortages. "It's a serious situation if you're a manufacturer, because now you have got to compete on wages," says Jonathan Anderson, Chief Asia Economist at UBS Securities (UBS.) in Hong Kong. "You can't just put up a sign and expect workers to come knocking. That game is over."

The implication of the labor shortage: sharply rising wages that could push up an inflation rate that already tops 5% on the mainland. That could translate into higher prices for Chinese exports that would push up inflation around the world. Lou says that with the cost of raw materials also rising, he needs to raise prices 30% for his plastic packaging to make a profit. But buyers have balked, and he has only been able to raise prices 10% so far. Yet the upward pressure will remain. "Very gradually manufacturing prices of goods from China will go up," says Anderson. "They have been falling the last five or six years. That won't happen anymore."

Rural Rhythms
Driven partly by a surge of foreign investment that is expected to top $60 billion this year, China is building more factories than it can easily find workers for. At the same time, factories are also springing up in the Chinese hinterlands, partly because of Beijing's Develop the West program, but also as manufacturers seek cheaper land and labor and new markets open up in the regions away from the coast. That too is making for a tighter overall labor market.

There are also structural changes at work. A key factor is a paucity of the young women who are the mainstay of the manufacturing workforce. According to the Labor & Social Security Ministry survey, 80% of Fujian textile plants report they only hire young women workers. But after 25 years of China's one-child policy, there are fewer young people able to leave the farm and staff the factories. The one-child policy also had the effect of favoring the birth of boys over girls, resulting in a population skewed more toward males. "The surplus labor in rural China may be as high as 100 million to 200 million people," says Zhang Juwei, deputy director of the Institute of Population & Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "But women are well under half of that." Meanwhile, companies shun the vast majority of laid-off workers, who are often older people with poor skills.

Another factor reducing labor supply is better conditions in rural areas. A major component of China's 5.3% inflation rate is higher food prices for grain, meat, and eggs. That means higher incomes for farmers. Indeed, rural incomes were up 16% in the first half of this year, compared with an average of less than 2% the previous two years. "Most young people in my village don't want to leave because they can make money from the land," says Shen Zhiyun, a 27-year-old native of Chengnan in northern Guangdong who now works in a Zhuhai cosmetics factory.

Also, farmers are benefiting from the populist policies of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who are building on their predecessor's drive to boost rural incomes. Since the beginning of this year, China's State Council has slashed agricultural taxes by an estimated $3.5 billion and provided subsidies worth $1.4 billion to grain growers in 29 provinces. Total government expenditures on subsidies and rural development are expected to top $18 billion this year, setting a record.

Fast Changes
As workers grow scarce, wages are going up. Indeed, over the last two years real salaries for manufacturing workers have risen faster than gross domestic product. That could have profound effects on China's economic infrastructure, since higher wages are running headlong into intense price competition. Fang Haifeng, 27, invested $100,000 to set up a small textile factory with his parents and sisters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in early 2003. In May of this year the operation closed down -- a victim of rising wages among textile workers. "This kind of factory was successful a couple of years ago," says Fang. "Not anymore."

So will China lose its status as the world's workshop? Not anytime soon. China's hourly manufacturing wages are still just one-third of those in Malaysia. And its developed infrastructure and massive domestic market will remain attractive. Also, most of the salary hikes for now are hitting smaller Taiwanese and Hong Kong-owned export manufacturers rather than big American companies. The Motorolas of China have been paying higher-than-average wages all along and don't have a high turnover problem. "American companies are widely considered to be highly attractive employers," says Patrick J. Powers, director of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council in Beijing. But the rest of the manufacturing sector relies on low margins and dirt-cheap labor -- labor that's suddenly not so cheap. The China model is changing fast.

[Undertoad]

It's time for the Chinese government to end this one child policy. If they let the free market work in the farm sector, they will industrialize and become highly productive just like the rest of the industrialized world, and will have no trouble producing enough food for everyone.

This is a great story for everyone. Chinese labor is getting better money. More items will be produced for the Chinese market instead of just for export. There will be less scarcity, and so, less reason for (total) war. Economic freedoms lead to decentralization of power and create more and more productive collaboration.

For Bruce,... Walmart prices will start to edge up and pressure the chain's approach over the next decade or two. Either that OR, worldwide pressure will create new labor markets in Africa and central Asia, increasing industrialization there and ending scarcity and leading to a more peaceful world. Chinese laborers move to the next sector up and start building cars; Somalian laborers create the cheap Walmart crap; everyone is more connected, more productive...

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

everyone is more connected, more productive...

...and more and more carbon is pumped into the atmosphere by the new industrialized nations until we all die of climate change.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

For Bruce,... Walmart prices will start to edge up and pressure the chain's approach over the next decade or two. Either that OR, worldwide pressure will create new labor markets in Africa and central Asia, increasing industrialization there and ending scarcity and leading to a more peaceful world. Chinese laborers move to the next sector up and start building cars; Somalian laborers create the cheap Walmart crap; everyone is more connected, more productive...

At our expense. They move up while we move down to meet them. That's just fucking ducky.

[Billy]

In China media, there is about 20% negative news or stories. So some Chinese media use the foreign media report the show the China negative news. Nanfang ZhouMe(South Weekend), one famous newspaper ago, liked report the official corruption and other megative news. The newspaper office was sensored by the government 5 times. Now the newspaper cannot report many negative news so the readers don't like it as ago.

I admit that there are many corruption officers. Now the public supervisory organizations and media are palying more and more important role to supervise the governments. I think it is good for China.

The factory labors' salary is very low in China. For me, I also feel my salary is also very slow. I cannot save money enough to travel Europe after working one year.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Billy

For me, I also feel my salary is also very slow. I cannot save money enough to travel Europe after working one year.

Why Europe as compared to so many other places - a sidebar curiosity. What in Europe interests you?

[Billy]

Originally Posted by tw

Why Europe as compared to so many other places - a sidebar curiosity. What in Europe interests you?

I want to see the western contries now, but I cannot get the USA visa. I can get the Europe vis, but I have no money enough to travel. I like the archtectures there.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Billy

I want to see the western contries now, but I cannot get the USA visa. I can get the Europe vis, but I have no money enough to travel. I like the archtectures there.

What is the problem with getting a US Visa? Perchance are you on the Terrorist list being discussed in another thread? ;-)

[wolf]

Billy told us about this before.

He's on the "unmarried Chinese citizen believed likely to want to stay in America if he sees it once" list.

[Billy]

Wolf is right. I dare not apply the USA visa again. I fear I am rejected again.