PLA Veterans' Grumbles get Louder

The PLA celebrates its 91st anniversary tomorrow, but not everyone is happy

The People's Liberation Army or PLA has a lot of veterans, about 57 million people.

They are the latest group of people to grumble about their (lack of) benefits and aren't very happy.

The government is so worried they will divert attention from the 91st anniversary of the founding of China's military tomorrow that vice-minister Fang Yongxiang gave a press conference saying now was not the time to voice grievances about welfare rights.

Fang Yongxiang warns veterans not to protest tomorrow

"We oppose the use of extreme moves to petition, and the staging of mass gatherings," he said. "We hope every veteran can respect the law and not threaten the stability of our society because of an impulse.

"We hope that everyone can report their problems in a rational and peaceful way... and prevent radical words... and avoid being used by people with ulterior motives."

In recent months, former servicemen and women have staged numerous rallies calling for better welfare rights. Some protestors have claimed they were assaulted by groups of thugs hired by officials.

There was also a five-day rally in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province in June, where some protestors said the event ended when armed police were sent to disperse the crowd. A military source close to the provincial government said "more than 10 officials" involved in the rally were punished for their handling of the event.

He also said authorities in other parts of the country had increased their monitoring of veterans on the approach to the military's anniversary on Wednesday, August 1.

"Governments in other provinces and cities have been on high alert to prevent any similar protests from being organized," the person, who requested anonymity, said.

"To prevent any possible petitioning, household registration authorities have started calling [at people's homes] and updating the information they have about veterans, to make sure they know their whereabouts."

Veterans have held several protests in recent months

Sounds very familiar to how political dissidents are tracked...

Last week hundreds of people staged protests outside veterans' affairs offices in Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces. In Jinan, Shandong, police officers were dispatched to block exits at the city's railway station to prevent more people from joining the protest.

Gou Zhengguo is a former soldier who fought in the Vietnam war and now lives in Hunan province. He said many veterans were told they could gather to air their grievances, but not in public places or in large numbers -- probably meaning no larger than three people.

"Some local authorities think that the civil rights movement by veterans, who only want better retirement benefits, is becoming more complicated and being used [as a front] by hostile forces from overseas," he said.

Groan. That argument again?

Who are these "hostile forces" that always conveniently pop up to supposedly disrupt things?

Perhaps the government should buckle down and sort out the veterans' grievances?

Veterans protesting in Beijing last year

Zeng Zhiping, a military law professor at Nanchang Institute of Technology in Jiangxi province criticized the authorities for being more concerned with breaking up protests than finding solutions to the veterans' problems.

"It's such a stupid and short-sighted move to highlight how much social unrest the authorities have successfully tackled," he said.

"This kind of approach may be a credit on local officials' lists of political achievements, but it will stir up more conflict between veterans and local authorities, and sow the seed for more trouble."

Soldiers do not earn much money in the military, and when they leave, they haven't amassed much in terms of savings which leaves these veterans very unhappy after what they thought was an honourable job.

The Ministry of Veterans' Affairs opened in April, meant to tackle their grievances; at Tuesday's press conference, they announced measures to help 120,000 ex-servicemen and women find new jobs and improve the welfare packages of 10,000 retirees and disabled former soldiers.

These initiatives seem like a drop in the bucket to help the 57 million veterans who have served the country. Surely money used to quell protests would be better used to give veterans what they want?

China's Aversion to Christmas

Mainland Chinese don't really understand Christmas but find it a fun party

Over a week ago when I was talking to some mainland Chinese students in a Hong Kong shopping mall, they found the concept of Christmas really weird. They didn't understand the purpose of decorating trees and putting them inside, taking pictures with an elderly man with a white beard in a red suit, and what this had to do with a baby born in a barn.

It is an honest observation coming from people who grew up in a country that does not promote any kind of religion, Christianity being one of them.

While there are many Christians in Hong Kong, Christmas is very much a commercial event in the city, and it's a holiday everyone there has grown up with.

Over 3 million Christmas decorations were bought on Tmall

But in China, the Chinese government is going to great lengths to dissuade people from celebrating Christmas -- even though the country manufactures the most goods related to the holiday, from decorations to gifts.

About a week ago, members of the Communist Party's Youth League at the University of South China in Hunan province were asked to sign a code of conduct which told them not to participate in Christmas-related celebrations, according to a statement circulating on Weibo.

"Communist Party members must be role models in abiding to the faith of communism. [Members are] not allowed to have superstitions and blindly follow the opium of Western spirits," the statement said, which was signed off by the Youth League.

The memo also said party members would face disciplinary consequences if they or their direct relatives were found to be involved in religious activities on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Instead they were instructed to hold events to promote "patriotic and traditional Chinese culture".

Yawn. And what does that mean?

China supplies 60% of the world's plastic Christmas trees

That's the same sentiment a student had in Jiangsu province, whose university had also banned Christmas celebrations.

"I am not very convinced of the school's excuse. Nobody relates Christmas to Western ideologies. Now I may not party with my friends in the school's dorm because we are afraid there will be inspections," he said.

He also didn't know the relationship between Christmas and the Christian faith.

Its not just happening in Hunan and Jiangsu provinces, but also Liaoning and Shaanxi provinces, where people were banned from gathering for celebrations on December 24 and 25.

But commercially Chinese companies love Christmas. Over 600,000 Christmas trees and 3 million decorations were bought on T Mall, owned by Alibaba. China makes over 60 percent of the world's plastic Christmas trees.

What's wrong with Christmas with Chinese characteristics?

Liu Kaiming, head of the Institute of Contemporary Observation in Shenzhen, said he finds it absurd for local institutions to ban the celebration of Christmas because it is a "Western festival".

"To Chinese people, this festival is not much different to the Singles' Day on November 11, it's for shopping," he said.

"China has long been using a Western calendar. We celebrate the New Year, Labour Day, and Women's Day based on Western origins. Are we going to ban all of them?" he said.

"This is China's dilemma -- it is largely opened up to globalization now, but it also holds back from embracing full-scale globalization because of domestic politics," Liu continued.

"The recent political emphasis on the 'revitalization of Chinese culture' from officials may have prompted local units to use this season as a chance to show loyalty by following the party line."

This relates back to President Xi Jinping who expects all cadres to show unwavering loyalty to the Party.

It's not just Christianity under fire, but also Buddhism and feng shui -- there's only one thing to believe in -- the Party.

Now if only the Party had Christmas-like celebrations then maybe people would be more on board.

圣诞快乐！

A Teacher's Life Lesson for All

Ada Tsang is the first Hong Kong woman to conquer Mount Everest

A Hong Kong school teacher is literally showing her students that they can achieve their dreams, no matter how big they are.

Ada Tsang Yin-hung, 40, has become the first Hong Kong woman to reach the summit at Mount Everest after three attempts.

She along with fellow Hongkonger Elton Ng, a physiotherapist and Zhang Jianguo, an amateur mountaineer from Jiangsu province made it up to the world's highest peak yesterday with the help of two sherpa guides.

The former teacher shows students they too can reach goals

Earlier on her blog Tsang wrote: "For students, every dream seems so far away and words of encouragement are not enough to conquer the frustration of failed attempts. Many would easily give up their dreams... a dream is not defined by the way you think of it, but by the actual efforts you put in.

"I could share my experiences with them only by recollecting events from my past... But what are my own future goals in life? How will I best teach these students how to pursue their goals?"

The secondary teacher quit her job to give her pupils a "life lesson" by scaling the top of the 8,848-metre tall mountain.

On her first attempt in 2014, Tsang was forced to abandon her trek after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali sherpa guides, which resulted in the suspension of all expeditions that season.

Then the following year, she was caught up in a deadly avalanche triggered by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that killed 17 climbers and left Tsang with a fractured skull and multiple injuries.

The head injury Tsang sustained in 2015 after an earthquake

"She had lost two litres of blood from her injuries in that last attempt," says Catharine Leung, a former pupil. "A lot of people asked her if she wanted to give up, but the thought never once crossed her mind. She said: 'As long as my body can handle it, I will try to do it'."

Many of her former students were ecstatic over the news of Tsang reaching the summit, as her seven years of hard work had finally paid off.

"There were pupils who had dreams of becoming lawyers but they were failing in English," Leung says. "She was telling her students to chase after their dreams, but she didn't want to just talk the talk -- she wanted to walk the talk."

If that's not inspiring enough to prove to Hong Kong students that really, nothing is impossible, I don't know what is.

There is no excuse now for anyone not to at least try to reach their goals. Tsang is a huge inspiration to all of us -- dream big and with determination and hard work, you can do it.

Cancer Isn't just the Horoscope Sign for Crabs

It's now been found hairy crabs might have cancer-causing chemicals in them

We're well into hairy crab season, and only now has the Hong Kong government released test results that show some of the crustaceans from two farms in Jiangsu province have excessive levels of dioxin and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls.

In other words, these hairy crabs contain highly toxic chemical compounds that could cause cancer and damage reproductive and immune systems.

And now Health minister Dr Ko Wing-man says it could take up to two weeks determine if more of these crabs are also not suitable for consumption.

Hairy crabs are bundled up and sold in many shops here

Will this make fans of the crustacean think twice about eating their favourite food this time of year?

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan says waiting two weeks is pointless because the crabs will have been consumed by then.

These small crabs can be found in food shops behind plastic or glass shelves, wrapped up in dried reeds and kept alive with squirts of water. And many people who love the crustaceans buy them to steam at home, or head to restaurants that serve them.

Wong, who is a former Legislative Council food safety panel member, slammed the Centre for Food Safety for failing to act as a gatekeeper and not adopting a unified food safety protocol with the mainland.

According to industry sources, the mainland food safety standards do not refer to dioxin levels.

Connoisseurs love hairy crab for its roe this time of year

"How could [the government] not realize all these years that there were no tests for dioxins in Jiangsu province?" she asked.

Wong said dioxin testing should be set out in law in Hong Kong on an acceptable level for food.

Currently there is no international consensus on dioxin standards so Hong Kong authorities use the World Health Organization guidelines for reference.

Some distributors are claiming they don't buy crabs from those tested so far, saying they get them from farms that have hygiene certificates. Are these documents even credible?

In any event, I'm luckily one of those people who isn't crazy about hairy crabs. If I eat hairy crabs, I can only eat one, because I lose patience trying to extract all the meat from the small legs, though admittedly the roe is quite amazing, together with aged yellow wine.

I'm very happy eating it once a year and that's it -- but in the meantime Hong Kong has been purchasing food across the border for decades... shouldn't we have established these food safety protocols ages ago???

Pictures of the Day: Zhou's House

The dragnet keeps continues to circle tighter around Zhou Yongkang

China watchers are waiting for the announcement on the fate of former security czar Zhou Yongkang, 71, but the climax keeps building with more news about him or his family and associates.

The latest are images of a large mansion in Jiangsu province owned by Zhou's son that were taken with a drone helicopter and then gone viral on the phone app WeChat but was quickly censored on the mainland.

The two-storey home on the site of Zhou's childhood home

The home is owned by Zhou Bin, a 42-year-old businessman who has been formally detained since December and faces possible bribery allegations, and may have been involved in illegal dealings in Sichuan, and the oil industry, both which is father built up as power bases.

From the images, viewers can see the two-storey home with white walls and surrounded by a classical Chinese garden. It is situated in the village of Xiqiantou, Zhou Yongkang's ancestral village.

An article posted with the picture claims Zhou's two brothers used to live there and the home was built in 2010 on the site of his childhood home.

Another report by Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post quoted residents who said they used to see officials and businessmen visit the building, but haven't seen any come by recently. They also added surveillance cameras were installed around the home.

The home in Xiqiantou village has a classical Chinese garden

The Oriental Post added the last time the villagers saw Zhou was last April when he said: "This might be the last time I visit you."

We're all now waiting to see what happens to Zhou and his home...