Why China’s Rail Fare Surge Is A Red Alert! Anti-Xi Is Seen As More Severe Than Anti-CCP

New high-speed rail regulations signal danger, loyalty to the party declining. Insider, Chinese government delays payments for projects, affecting numerous companies. Zhongnanhai in crisis, anti-Xi is seen as more severe than anti-CCP. American economist, US-China trade war has long begun and is escalating. It's all covered in today's China Truths. New high-speed rail regulations signal danger, loyalty to the party declining. Amid growing concerns about inflation impacting China, four high-speed rail lines have announced significant ticket price hikes, marking the steepest increase in recent years. Analysts view this rise in fares as a warning sign. In detail, the price hike, announced earlier this month, affects routes connecting Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Kunming. Business class saw the largest increase at nearly 40%, with a 20% rise for first and second class seats. Social media speculation suggests that this increase won't be limited to high-speed trains. Many netizens are already looking for alternatives, whether it's switching to older train models or flying, options that are largely controlled by the dominant railway operator and unlikely to offer relief. Similarly, opting for air travel isn't viable either, as the struggling aviation sector continues to operate at a loss. Even considering the roads isn't practical since highways share the financial burdens of high-speed rail, with both facing debt repayments and maintenance peaks, making highway toll increases almost certain. A recent editorial in Shanbao highlighted that the price hike impacts lines in China's bustling Yangtze River Delta and the central labor-exporting regions, affecting everyone from blue-collar workers to upper-level white-collars, essentially trimming down everyone's High-speed rail has been China's shining star for the past decade, unlike water and electricity price hikes. It embodies China's economic model, where infrastructure construction fuels GDP growth, real estate appreciation, and job creation. This has led local governments to build high-speed rail lines like crazy, constructing shopping centers, hotels, and housing near stations, and racking up massive debt in the process. The article points out that despite its massive size, the state-owned railway corporation is heavily reliant on local government finances. When property prices plummet and land-based revenues dry up, local governments struggle, leading to cuts in public sector jobs. With young people facing a tough job market, many graduates are scrambling to land iron rice bowl civil service jobs for the security they offer. However, as local finances tighten, these jobs are becoming less secure, and the number of people benefiting from the system is shrinking. This will inevitably lead to a decline in the number of people willing to follow the government's lead, and fewer young people will seek public sector jobs simply to comply. Furthermore, the baby boomer generation born in the early 1960s is now entering retirement en masse, with tens of millions retiring each year. This will further widen the already significant pension gap, leaving policymakers with two unappealing options—either reduce benefits, sparking public anger, or resort to rampant money printing, which will also lead to public discontent. Regardless of the path chosen, it will only result in fewer people listening to the CCP and a shrinking pool of loyal supporters. Insider Chinese government delays payments for projects, affecting numerous companies. China's real estate market is teetering on the edge of collapse, sinking local governments into severe debt crises. The CCP's earlier initiative to renovate older homes has left numerous businesses floundering, even pushing some to the brink of survival. On May 13, Liu Kershan, a resident of Shenyang, Liaoning, discussed the struggles faced by her family's business, a well-established distributor of waterproof decorative materials for over 20 years. Despite handling numerous renovation projects in their area, severe internal competition has left them struggling significantly last year. Her relative's company took on government renovation contracts which only deepened their financial woes. After completing a project in Kaiyuan City, they repeatedly attempted to collect overdue payments from local authorities, which have yet to be settled. The situation escalated to the point where they had to pay out-of-pocket to appease unpaid workers, highlighting a broader issue of local governments delaying payments and using various excuses to avoid settling debts. To cope with the ongoing financial strain, her relative's firms have stopped offering credit terms this year, discovering that their products remain unsold without such incentives. When they resumed offering credit to stimulate sales, they found themselves unable to collect payments, further exacerbating their financial troubles. Liu emphasized the extreme difficulties faced by larger businesses in sustaining operations under these conditions, noting that many smaller companies have already failed. In an intensely competitive market, firms continue to operate at losses merely to keep cash flowing, leading to the closure of many small decorative and waterproofing shops. In another case, Li Huixiang, a Guangdong resident, disclosed to NTD on May 13 that her best friend's investment firm in Guangzhou collapsed due to the government's failure to pay for construction projects on time. The company, which specialized in old-town renovations, was involved in questionable dealings with the government, including bank loans, connections, backdoor dealings, and bribery. Despite her friend's significant investment in a Nansha renovation project, including establishing an office and building relationships with local officials, the expected government funds never arrived, leaving the company financially crippled. By early last year, the firm was unable to pay its employees, and Li's friend faced severe personal financial difficulties, unable to pay rent and relying on her parents' retirement pensions. Li's own financial situation deteriorated as she was duped into mortgaging two of her properties, incurring over 2 million yuan, about 276,331 U.S. dollars, in debt. The background to these struggles lies in the CCP's Old House Renovation Initiative launched in April 2020, aimed at stimulating economic growth by investing 4 trillion yuan, about 552.7 billion U.S. dollars, in aging urban areas. Unfortunately, many businesses that invested in these projects have not been reimbursed, resulting in widespread financial distress. Zeng Nanhai in crisis, anti-Xi is seen as more severe than anti-CCP. Following the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping's loyalists solidified their control, yet Xi's sense of crisis remains palpable. Edwin Yin, a notable online personality residing in Australia, has become a focal point of the CCP's efforts to suppress dissent. His broadcasts are sharply critical of Xi Jinping. In a Four Corners segment by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, aired on May 13, featured an interview with Eric, a pseudonym for a former officer from the Ministry of Public Security's Political Security Bureau who escaped China for Australia last year. He exposed the workings of this infamous security division and their tactics for tracking down dissidents abroad. Eric shared that in 2018, he was tasked with setting a trap for Edwin Yin in Australia, aiming to detain him in Southeast Asia. In 2023, the Australian Federal Police uncovered a CCP spy operation targeting Australian residents, including Edwin Yin, whose video programs openly criticized Xi Jinping and his daughter. Online under the alias Jiang Wangzheng, Yin previously worked as an assistant to the deputy manager of retail operations at the Hangzhou branch of Ping'an Bank in Zhejiang Province and now lives in Australia. Yin has disclosed that his late uncle, Yao Zuoding, was the first vice director of the Zhejiang Province Development and Reform Commission and had ties to many of Xi Jinping's influential Zhejiang New Army secretaries. He mentioned that Wang Xiaohong, upon assuming substantial control over the Ministry of Public Security, oversaw three significant cases, including one involving a statue of Xi Jinping at Liberty Sculpture Park, another related to Niu Tingyu, and his own case. Chinese sculptor Chen Weiming collaborated on a sculpture which features a chilling image of a skull fused with Xi Jinping's head, covered in red COVID-19 virus particles. It was first unveiled in Liberty Sculpture Park in Southern California on June 4, 2021, but was burned down by arsonists on July 23 of that year. A new version of the sculpture was installed on June 5, 2022. In 2019, 20-year-old Niu Tingyu faced a harsh 14-year sentence from the CCP for revealing personal details about Xi Jinping's family, including his daughter Xi Mingzhe, through his company Vulgar Wiki. He was subjected to torture throughout his trial and imprisonment. Anti-Xi is seen as more severe than anti-CCP. Commenting on what happened, Edwin Yin explained that currently, being anti-Xi is seen as more severe than being anti-communist. I've been told by many within the establishment, including those from the Zhejiang and Fujian groups, that while it's acceptable to oppose the Chinese Communist Party, opposing Xi Jinping is not, insulting the party is tolerable, but insulting Xi Jinping is forbidden. He also noted that the authorities have insisted he remove any video content that insults Xi Jinping and refrain from discussing the relatives of Xi's key officials, like Cai Qi. Another dissident now in Canada, Chen Siming, conveyed to the Epoch Times on January 2 that criticizing Xi stirs more anger among the authorities than general criticism of the CCP. While I could critique the CCP or its officials in China in previous years without much trouble, any criticism of Xi Jinping would draw immediate and intense reactions from the police, who would promptly seek me out. In recent years, Xi Jinping has frequently been a target for satire and ridicule both within China and internationally, with CCP authorities actively searching for these critics. Last year, the Epoch Times reported about a young Hongkonger who began making rupeo, meaning mocking, videos at about 14 years of age. At 15, he was detained by Hong Kong's National Security Department for his videos mocking Xi Jinping under charges of incitement. He later fled to the U.S. at 16 to apply for political asylum. Rupeo translates to milk buns in English, with ru meaning milk, which sounds similar to aryu in rujin, meaning insult. About bao, in 2013, Xi visited a steamed bun shop in Beijing and was photographed eating a bun, leading the photo to become a popular meme. Therefore, people then started using the term rupeo to mock the CCP leader Xi Jinping. Furthermore, during Halloween last year, Shanghai's youth provocatively dressed as Winnie the Pooh and Emperor Xi, with some even donning surveillance camera hats, a nod to China's extensive surveillance network. Reports later emerged of the CCP taking retaliatory actions against them. Radio Free Asia reported last March that Ningning, a Chinese national in the USA, was urgently contacted by his family in China. They inquired whether he was responsible for a petition on Change.org critical of Xi Jinping, under pressure from Chinese security to remove or alter it because it was considered a major national security event. Earlier this year, it was disclosed to the Epoch Times that a special team in Beijing is tasked with safeguarding Xi Jinping's image. Commenting on this issue, on January 3, Mr. Li Jianping, a former Beijing lawyer and current chair of the Federation for a Democratic China-Canada, said that the frequent domestic and international derision of Xi signifies that he now depends on robust measures to protect his image, reflecting an extraordinary governance crisis. Another Chinese scholar, Li Hengqing, noted that the prevailing sentiment among the Chinese populace is a desire for Xi's resignation, seeing it as a prerequisite for significant changes in China. However, it's crucial to recognize that the Communist Party needs to be dismantled as well. Without the Communist Party, China would be a better place. American economist, U.S.-China trade war has long begun and is escalating. In a recent article for the Epoch Times, titled China-U.S. trade war escalates, American economist Milton Esrati argued that the trade war between the U.S. and China is According to Mr. Esrati, media outlets' claims that the U.S. and China are merely nearing a trade war are misleading. He said that both nations have long surpassed this point and are now deeply engaged in a growing trade conflict. The tensions have been mounting for over six years, escalating significantly during 2018 and 2019 under President Trump, who levied heavy tariffs on Chinese imports to curb Beijing's unfair trade tactics such as subsidies, intellectual property theft, and burdensome demands on American businesses in China. Despite these efforts, the desired reforms were not realized. The Biden administration, while generally reversing Trump's policies, has continued enforcing these tariffs. U.S. trade representative Catherine Tai believes these tariffs are essential for influencing Beijing's policies. More recently, the Biden administration has halted exports of advanced semiconductor technology and chip-making equipment to China and curtailed American investment in Chinese tech, further subsidizing U.S. chip production to counter China's global market aspirations. Discussions on tariffs and trade penalties have been revived, with Washington probing China's shipbuilding sector following allegations of unfair practices aimed at dominating global maritime industries, as reported by American labor unions. In response, China's Ministry of Commerce has dismissed these claims as baseless and accused the U.S. of misreading legitimate trade activities, even initiating a probe into alleged discriminatory U.S. subsidies. Amidst these tensions, President Biden has warned of imposing new and larger tariffs. Speaking at a campaign event at a steel plant in Pittsburgh, he pointed out the subsidies that the Chinese government provides to its steel and aluminum sectors. Biden threatened to raise the base tariffs on these metals from 7.5% to 25%, adding to the existing 10% tariffs put in place by the Trump administration. Additionally, just before this announcement, Biden proposed introducing higher tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. The CCP has labeled President Biden's proposed tariffs as rash behavior, yet in retaliation, Beijing has only imposed new tariffs on chemicals manufactured in the U.S., particularly targeting propionic acid, a chemical crucial in producing pesticides, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals, with a steep 43.5% tariff. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce called out American companies for allegedly dumping products into Chinese markets, though it didn't specify affected companies like Dow Chemical and Eastman Chemical Company. Beijing's move, which came just days after Biden's tariff threats, subtly suggests that China is ready to engage in tit-for-tat tariff exchanges, signaling that it can match Washington's measures. The impact of China's new tariffs on the U.S. economy, or even on the companies like Dow and Eastman, is expected to be minimal. The global market for propionic acid is relatively niche, worth around $13 billion in 2022, with China making up about a quarter of this market. U.S. sales to China peak at around $300 million, but the real intent behind Beijing's tariffs seems more about sending a strong message to Washington than causing actual economic disruption. In this ongoing escalation of tariffs, subsidies, and probes into unfair trade practices, Beijing finds itself on the back foot. Washington boasts formidable allies like the EU, Japan, and the UK, each of which has voiced concerns over China's trade behaviors and is contemplating implementing tariffs and other restrictive measures on Chinese imports. These allies significantly strengthen Washington's position in this confrontation. Mr. Esrati concluded, should the current U.S. administration not succeed in the upcoming November elections, Beijing should not anticipate any relief from the pressures it currently faces. This stems from President Trump's vow to levy additional tariffs on Chinese products if he is re-elected. Don't forget to leave a comment in the section below to share your opinions on today's topic with us. Make sure to like and subscribe to see more interesting topics from China Truths.