Zhu Yuan is an editorial writer with China Daily’s opinion department. He writes editorials about social and cultural issues.
It's human nature to address immediate problems and consider remote ones later. It is particularly so for a government that must meet the immediate needs of its citizens. That may explain why only nonbinding agreements could be achieved thus far at international settings on climate change.
Everybody is talking about housing prices, which have skyrocketed in recent years. In major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, it is impossible for a white-collar worker to purchase a decent home even after saving all of his or her earnings over a lifetime.
Scholar Xiong Peiyun's new book is titled in English as China's New Revolution, but its Chinese title of Chongxin Faxian Shehui literally means "rediscovery of civil society". To accurately portray what the book is about, I think the literary translation of "rebuilding" is much better suited than "rediscovery".
Sometimes even a point of view that churns our stomach or offends us can be food for thought. The very extreme nationalism and populism in the book China Stands Up is case in point.
Can you call it a soccer match anymore when players want to lose, rather than win, the game? Throwing games has been happening frequently in the Chinese primary league competitions for the past several years. And it's all because of the gambling behind the competitions.
There are always disadvantaged groups of people in every society at any time. Undoubtedly, it is necessary for the public to know about their lives. But it is unrealistic and inane for the government to lend a hand to the disadvantaged before clarifying whether their plight is a result of any injustice from State policy.
If the saying "spare the rod, spoil the child" was typical of the extreme way many Chinese parents educated their children in the 1970s and earlier, most parents during the past two decades have gone to the opposite extreme and poured excessive attention and love on their sole children.
Interacting with people of a country is perhaps the best way to know them. But we can also do so by reading about them - not just about their history or politics, but also about the way they lead their lives and the ties they share with their relatives and friends. The Chinese people are no exception to this rule.
In Mandarin, it's called jiaoyi. It literally means chair in English. The word in both languages carries similar nuance when its usage refers to privileges and favors accorded to those in power.
Anti-corruption fiction (fantan xiaoshuo in Chinese) is a popular catchphrase now. But there was no such expression in the early 1980s and it was impossible for such fiction to be published at the time. There could be episodes about a fight against corruption in a particular novel, but it would have been politically problematic for an entire piece of fictional work to be focused on the topic.
What do corrupt officials do when they end up behind bars? Maybe write books if the conditions are right. Quite a number of them have had their books published even while serving their terms.
We didn't have a religion of our own in the real sense in our entire history of civilization, and neither do we have a tradition of penitence although Confucius did say a lot about how a person should behave to become a man of moral integrity. There is a difference between trying to be a good person and developing a sense of penitence and penance.
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