As President Trump is about to set off for the highly anticipated meeting with CCP leader Xi Jinping, Beijing has indeed once again high-profilely emphasized its old cliché—that so-called "mutual respect" should become the foundation of China-US relations. This sentence sounds reasonable, and even has a touch of nobility. But in reality, what it truly wants to express is a demand for others to shut up, acquiesce, or even bow down morally. Looking deeper, when the CCP demands that others "respect China," it is actually engaging in a carefully designed conceptual substitution, and on multiple levels. ...
On September 14, customers at the Huanle Aijia Supermarket in Zhumadian, Henan, protested over restrictions on the use of stored-value cards. Chairman Wang Haizhou appeared on-site, promising that the company's assets were sufficient to cover its debts and pledging to announce a solution by November 6.
On August 29, the semi-annual report of China State Construction Engineering Corporation showed that its accounts payable exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan, with nearly 300 billion yuan overdue for more than a year. The company admitted to extending payment cycles for subcontracted projects, despite holding 395.1 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents. On September 10, the State Council required state-owned enterprises to take the lead in making timely payments, focusing on large enterprises that have sufficient cash but still delay payments.
On September 7, netizens reported on social media that the application process for fresh graduate subsidies in Hangzhou has been obstructed, affecting their job hunting and resignation plans. The comment section sparked discussions on how subsidy policies lead companies to suppress wages and include subsidies as part of employee benefits. Some netizens believe that the cancellation of subsidies might force companies to improve working hour systems, while others call for fighting for both subsidies and the right to a two-day weekend.
On September 15, Reuters reported that China's vehicle manufacturing profit margin has fallen to 1.5%, a ten-year low. Despite a 9.13% increase in revenue in the first half of the year, GAC Group reported a net loss of 4.467 billion yuan. On September 14, GAC announced plans to acquire equity in a joint-venture automaker under FAW Group; market speculation suggests the target may be FAW Toyota, aiming to promote the integration of northern and southern Toyota operations.
During the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on September 15, US scholar David Finkelstein pointed out that US policy toward Taiwan is constrained by Congress, while former Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai claimed that China acts according to law. Finkelstein quipped that the National People's Congress of China has stricter discipline, to which Fudan scholar Wu Xinbo responded that China is more united and warned the US side to be careful.
On September 12, Inner Mongolia University of Technology held a special job fair for central and state-owned enterprises, attracting a large number of students. The crowded scene reflects the current severe employment situation.
On September 15, the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing. According to sources familiar with Japan-China relations, researchers from the National Institute for Defense Studies of the Japanese Ministry of Defense and Japanese military attachés in China were not invited, while former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who left office 16 years ago, was invited to attend.
On Sep 13, an interview featuring Zhao Hong, a professor at Peking University Law School, sparked heated debate after she stated that drug use is a form of self-harm and that cyberbullying reflects inadequate legal popularization. On Sep 15, netizens dug up multiple violent crime cases from the 1990s caused by drug use, questioning whether her remarks were detached from reality.