‘Sit-Ups’ Trend: New Form Of ‘Lying Flat’ In China; 12,000 Minors Sentenced In China

Emergence of SIT UPS among Chinese youth, a new twist on lying flat in government jobs. Chinese public security forces cross-border transfer of 300 million yuan into their own accounts. 12,000 miners sentenced in China in the first quarter, up 78% year-over-year. Mainland China's pension system to merge, will civil servants' pensions shrink? Nearly 10,000 tons of corn mysteriously disappear from a Hebei grain storage over two years. Sparking online debate. It's all covered in today's China Truths. Emergence of SIT UPS among Chinese youth, a new twist on lying flat in government jobs. A new form of lying flat, termed SIT UPS, has emerged among Chinese mainland youth. It's lying flat but not entirely, slacking but not completely. Young people in government agencies and public institutions might appear to be working. Although they are physically present, their minds have already clocked out. According to the paper, a widespread phenomenon among the grassroots staff and non-leadership positions in government and public institutions is this state of mental absenteeism where they do not actually quit their jobs nor do they strive hard at work. Manifestations of this include clocking in and out on time, simply waiting for the workday to end, turning off or silencing their phones after hours and ignoring work messages. They display a lack of diligence, a detached attitude towards unrelated tasks, and only take care of their assigned responsibilities without trying to improve their performance or think critically about their work. They refuse to strive for improvement or to exceed themselves, are content with the status quo, and exhibit a strong inertial mindset. Young people are unwilling or unable to work, repeatedly taught yet always deflecting task assignments with excuses of I don't know how. During work hours, they idle away time, fully complete their clock ins, and mock colleagues who work diligently, saying, look, so-and-so does so much yet still earns the same salary as me. However, these young people working in government and public institutions who choose to lie flat are completely different from the ordinary young people who are forced to lie flat. This time, they lie flat on the basis of strength, as these young civil servants are holding iron rice bowls, becoming complacent and fattened on the people's dime without any motivation for advancement. Under the CCP regime, civil servants enjoy high benefits. They eat and drink well every day. Many ministries and agencies have internal canteens comparable to five-star hotels, offering a wide variety of meals three times a day at fair prices. They live in welfare housing assigned to civil servants. Work is stress-free, with eight people doing the job of one. No responsibilities. It's easy to get things done when out and about, enjoying the highest treatment everywhere, and after retirement, they continue receiving government pensions. With work being so relaxed, what else could they do but lie flat? At the end of last year, an article published by People's Entertainment, a subsidiary of Dianrui Media sparked an online frenzy by stating that China's 80 million public servants consume 40 percent of fiscal revenues, with active workers earning 5,000 yuan, approximately 700 U.S. dollars, and retirees 10,000 yuan, around 1,400 U.S. dollars. The heavy burden of support imposed on the common people became a hot topic. A Zhihu user named Pigeon Legend posted questioning why, with 80 million people funded by fiscal revenues accounting for 40 percent of tax revenue, the government does not streamline its staff. Why does the government need so many people? He called for downsizing government departments, increasing the efficiency of government workers, eliminating redundancy, and reducing the tax burden on citizens. Other users expressed their agreement. The position of civil servant has always been highly coveted in China. Last month, 25 provinces held the provincial civil service exam, with about 4.5 million candidates competing for the final interview spots for 150,000 positions. The provincial exam, a symbol of imperial grain and iron rice bowl, surged to the top of the Weibo hot search list. However, against the backdrop of a declining economy on the mainland, some regional public servants have begun to see salary cuts and have come out to demand wages, questioning how long the good days for civil servants can last. But some netizens believe that even with a pay cut, civil servants are still better off than the common people. Chinese public security forces cross-border transfer of 300 million yuan into their own accounts. It is reported that the leading domestic voice chat and dating platform Banban, with over 100 million users, recently faced a court trial and shunned Foshan, Guangdong for the blind box gambling case. The incident that drew widespread social attention involved shunned police forcibly transferring 300 million yuan, approximately US$42 million, across borders, which forced the platform to cease operations. According to mainland media reports, on April 17, 2023, Banban was targeted by the Shun District Public Security Bureau of Foshan, Guangdong province, under the suspicion of operating a gambling house. The enforcement extended cross-province to the Changxiang Ban Company in Wuhan Donglu New Technology Development Zone, detaining 25 of the company's managers and employees. After more than a year of investigation and indictment, the Shun Procuratorate brought the case to the Shun District Court. The first trial at the court began in early April 2024. Court documents revealed that during the investigation phase, Shun Public Security, after seizing the company's corporate seal, bank U-Shield, financial documents, and main servers, gathered the company's financial personnel, who were detained in detention centers in Nanhai and Shanshui districts. They were ordered to transfer all funds, totaling over 300 million yuan, approximately US$42 million, from the Changxiang Ban Company and its affiliated companies' bank accounts to the account of the Shun Public Security Bureau, including about 20 million yuan, around US$2.8 million, of personal funds from company shareholders. Reports indicate that the seized funds included accounts from Changxiang Ban's parent company, all its subsidiaries, and some partner companies, most of which were unrelated to the criminal investigation by Shun Public Security. Employees of Changxiang Ban stated, even the bank's large fixed deposits were forcibly redeemed and transferred directly to the Shun Public Security account, resulting in a loss of nearly 3 million yuan, around US$420,000, in interest alone. This directly led to the once-industry-leading company having to declare cessation of operations. Defense attorneys argued that the actions of Shun Public Security were completely illegal. According to the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law and other legal regulations, financial assets in the accounts of the accused individuals and companies can only be legally frozen, and it is strictly prohibited to transfer, remit, or otherwise covertly confiscate them. The attorneys pointed out that transferring funds amounted to executing the case before its adjudication. Public records show that Changxiang Ban, Wuhan Technology Company, Ltd., primarily engaged in Internet information services, employs over 1,600 people and is a leading enterprise in China's domestic voice broadcasting industry, with operations in several foreign countries. Its main product, the Banban app, is a mobile software for voice broadcasting with 36 million registered users and over 240,000 broadcasters. On X platform, someone remarked, out-of-town police, to have jurisdiction, often send undercover agents or engage in entrapment. A few years ago, police from the northeast went to Hangzhou to arrest businesspeople, and Hangzhou police mobilized to protect the businesses. The scene was truly shocking. And even local city party secretaries and provincial committee secretaries had to protect the businesses, while the political and legal committee secretary aimed to take them down. The former focused on development, the latter on making money and achieving merits through case handling. Others said, if there's no money, they rob, showing the true nature of the communists, an eye-opener. This is no different from robbery. The only difference is the identity, acting as robbers under the guise of law enforcers. Robbers can't do anything about it. The controversy over covert confiscation and the long-range fishing style of cross-border law enforcement by Shun Public Security has also baffled the public. In fact, no Shun personnel were involved in the case until people were arrested in May 2023, when the investigating authority discovered Shun residents involved. Thus, during the trial, the defense repeatedly argued that Shun did not have the right to handle the case off-site. Recently, there have been rumors that the Chinese public security system has cut salaries by 20%. 12,000 minors sentenced in China in the first quarter, up 78% year-over-year. The crime rate among Chinese minors is alarmingly high. According to the latest data from the Chinese Communist Party, during the first quarter, 12,000 minors were sentenced, marking a 77.67% increase from the previous year and accounting for 3.12% of all criminals, with a severe sentence rate of 8.5%. On April 22, the Supreme Court of China released the main data on judicial trials for the first quarter of 2024. The data indicated an increase in criminal first instance cases, with 289,000 cases accepted, up 8.32% year-over-year. During this period, 374,000 defendants were sentenced, an increase of 14% from the previous year. Among them, 12,000 minors were sentenced, up 77.67% year-over-year, accounting for 3.12% of all criminals, an increase of 1.12% points from the previous year, with a severe sentence rate of 8.5%. The rising crime rate among minors has once again drawn public concern. Recently, a series of shocking juvenile crimes in China, many related to left-behind children, have burst into public view. For example, on March 10 this year, in Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province, a first-year junior high student named Wang Ziyao was murdered and buried by three peers of the same age, who then went to school as if nothing had happened, shocking society. Under significant public pressure, the Supreme Procuratorate of China decided to officially prosecute the suspects Zhang, Li, and Ma. This was the second case within a month in China where a crime committed by minors under 14 years of age was officially prosecuted, following the first case approved by the Supreme Procuratorate involving a 13-year-old boy in Gansu suspected of murdering an 8-year-old neighbor girl. Both cases involved left-behind children. Left-behind children are a phenomenon unique to mainland China, where one or both parents go to work in towns, leaving their children at home or with rural relatives, living apart from their parents for long periods. On March 18, the WeChat public account Basic Common Sense posted an article stating that this was a malicious case where three minors killed another minor. Should the young offenders be severely punished or rehabilitated? What is often unintentionally overlooked is the shocking social issue behind it. This is a bloody tragedy of three left-behind children killing another, reflecting the grim lives of 10.86 million left-behind children in China. For the majority of left-behind children, separated from their parents and raised by elderly relatives, the focus is merely on providing food and warmth. Some elderly caregivers, themselves unwell, may not even manage to provide for the basic needs of the left-behind children, let alone assist with homework or provide psychological support and comfort when children face setbacks and confusion. Proper value guidance and role modeling for these children are virtually non-existent. The article questions whether millions of parents of left-behind children do not wish to bring their kids to the cities where they work to attend school. Ask the education commissions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or even Shijiazhuang in Hebei province whether migrant workers' children can enter schools and take the middle school entrance exam without discrimination in these cities. The article vehemently criticizes, where they even ban and drive away schools specifically for migrant workers' children who give up local middle school entrance exam opportunities. According to 2016 official data from the Chinese Communist Party, 70% of criminal offenses in China are committed by juveniles. Among these, 70% are from left-behind children. Mainland China's Pension System to Merge – Will Civil Servants' Pensions Shrink? Recently, the pension system merger has garnered attention on mainland social platforms. Originally, the mainland pension system operated on a dual-track system, where internal system members, civil servants and public institution employees participated in their own pension insurance without personal contributions, and their pensions were generally linked to their salaries at the time of retirement, external system members were part of a combined social pooling and personal account system, with costs shared between employers and employees. In 2014, the Chinese State Council launched the pension system merger reform with a 10-year transitional period. As this period nears its end, the merger implies that internal system members and corporate employees alike will adopt the combined social pooling and personal account pension system. An analysis published in Beijing's Sunlian Life Weekly last month stated that the merger does not mean that the pensions of internal and external members will be completely equal, as those within the system still retain advantages. There are three reasons for this. First, many companies avoid their payment obligations by not contributing to the pension fund based on the actual salaries of employees, which results in a significant reduction in employees' incomes after retirement compared to before, whereas in the internal system, contributions are fully paid based on actual wages without personal contributions. Different contribution bases lead to disparities in pension amounts received. Second, looking at the pension replacement rate, the replacement rate for corporate employees is just over 40%, while for internal system members it ranges between 80% and 90%. For example, if a salary is 10,000 yuan, about 1,400 U.S. dollars, corporate employees may receive a pension of just over 4,000 yuan, about 560 U.S. dollars, after retirement, whereas internal system members can receive between 8,000 and 9,000 yuan, about 1,100 to 1,300 U.S. dollars. Third, regarding occupational pension benefits, such contributions are mandatory in the internal system but not for companies, meaning most ordinary private sector employees do not enjoy this benefit. Netizens question, it feels like it has changed, but also like it hasn't. CCP high officials receive special retirement benefits. In addition to cash income, these high officials also enjoy numerous benefits not reflected on their payslips. Military Intelligence Observation disclosed in 2015 the retirement benefits for CCP high officials, such as deputy provincial and deputy ministerial level officials. They receive comprehensive retirement benefits, including full-time drivers and security, as well as part-time medical staff for those over 80 or in poor health. They are entitled to four two-week domestic travel and recuperation trips annually with family. Transportation for these trips includes two first- or business-class plane tickets, two train soft sleeper berths, and local travel with two sedans or a van and a sedan. They stay in four- or five-star hotels and deluxe suites, with a daily meal allowance of 300 yuan, around 42 U.S. dollars, for the official and family, and 200 yuan, around 24 U.S. dollars, for staff, all reimbursable. Aside from benefits, the average annual benefits and allowances for a full provincial or ministerial-level official, excluding pension and grade-related expenses, amount to over 1.12 million yuan, around 160,000 U.S. dollars. For deputy provincial or ministerial-level officials, this figure is nearly 940,000 yuan, around 130,000 U.S. dollars. Nearly 10,000 tons of corn mysteriously disappear from a Hubei grain storage over two years, sparking online debate. On April 22, the topic labeled Nearly 10,000 tons of corn mysteriously disappear from a Hubei grain storage over two years caught the attention of the Internet. Qinghuangdao police in Hubei received a report that nearly 10,000 tons of corn had vanished from a grain storage between 2020 and 2022. The investigation revealed collusion between grain merchants and the storage facility's on-site staff. They manipulated records during grain truck arrivals, logging multiple entries for single deliveries and falsifying storage records. Later, whenever they needed money, they would sell some of the grain, illicitly removing it from storage to siphon off substantial funds. The grain merchant profited over 25 million yuan, approximately 3.5 million U.S. dollars, from selling the grain, while the on-site staff received a 50,000 yuan, about 7,000 U.S. dollars. Bribe and others involved received monthly salaries ranging from several thousand to 10,000 yuan. Currently, several suspects are under investigation for contract fraud and theft and have been referred to the prosecution for indictment. This incident has sparked widespread online discussion. Weibo influencer Dr. Lu Yun commented, It's no surprise to see insiders stealing. The depths of corruption in grain storage are profound, often mysteriously catching fire just before inspections. Financial blogger and Weibo influencer Wen Lixiong noted, The art of insider theft has been perfected, and it took so long to uncover, showing just how massive the management loopholes are. Director of Beijing Chunlin Law Firm and Weibo celebrity legal officer-lawyer Pang Jiulin said, commented, It's unbelievable that 10,000 tons of corn were stolen. That amount of corn would take many farmers to produce, and a truck carrying 10 tons each would need 1,000 trips to transport it all. The fact that the leadership never noticed is appalling. With a case value of 25 million yuan, about 3.5 million U.S. dollars, the thieves should face life imprisonment, and the leaders should be held accountable for negligence causing significant losses to state assets. A nationwide inspection of grain storages is warranted. There might be more cases like this. Don't forget to leave a comment in the section below to share your opinions on today's topic with us. 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