John Ai

Journey into the economic heart of southern China. The megalopolis attracts millions of migrant workers. Its factories offer dull jobs in demanding and sometimes dangerous conditions. The factories tend to create corporate "mini-cities" where workers spend their wages, putting money back into corporate pockets. Young cynics look for day jobs and spend time in Internet cafes and bingo halls.

The government is worried about economic growth and wants to increase social control. In the third quarter of 2018, the Chinese economy grew 6.5%, the weakest since the financial crisis of 2008. No celebrations and Christmas decorations at Langfang, Xian, Kunming and other cities. Christmas is a "foreign" and "dirty" celebration, it "pollutes" the spirit.

The Patriotic Association enhances the "independence" of the Church; then Liu Bainian expresses appreciation for the Sino-Vatican agreement. The faithful wonder if the Vatican's availability will reduce violence: crosses and churches destroyed; campaigns to get rid of poor Christians, students and teachers; homes for the elderly requisitioned and destroyed to make way for new urban projects.

Spokespeople provide scripted answers to scripted questions. Various “foreign” media are funded by China as propaganda tools. The end of term limits for Xi Jinping is the will of the people even though the people did not know about it.

Online videos showing protests, criticisms of the authorities, and complaints, have been censored. Parents have complained of sexual abuse involving their children. Naked doctors are said to have examined naked children. The military and Meng Jianzhu, a former secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, are said to be involved. The government plans a nationwide inspection of all nursery schools.

The fire in an apartment complex caused 19 deaths, of which 8 children. Beijing launches a home-country campaign + against illegal apartments and structures, small industries and offices by evicting those who live there. Thousands of homeless. Cai Qi, a friend of Xi Jinping, has decided to clean the city of "low-income industries" and reduce the population.

The sentence includes jail time and probation. The accused were members of an NGO working on behalf of workers’ rights. They were charged with causing damage with strikes and negotiations with companies. All three pleaded guilty and decided not to appeal. The leader, Zeng Feiyang, was accused of receiving foreign funds to harm the Chinese government.

They are part of about 300 activists detained since July 2015. Hu Shigen, a leader of an underground Protestant church, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for “subversion”. Zhai Yanmin gets three years in prison. Wang Yu, who on August 1 "confessed" on TV, has been released on probation.

The authorities have charged a large gang, originally from Yunnan, with having deliberately killed miners in small illegal quarries, by simulating accidents to demand compensation from the owners. After beating the victims, they threw mining carts on them to simulate collapsed shafts or explosions; then, disguised as relatives, negotiated the compensation and cremated the bodies. The ashes were thrown into the water. At least 17 confirmed dead.

Admission to China’s higher education leads to fierce competition. Educational authorities boost the number of places for students from the country’s less developed central and western regions. Protesters complain in front of government buildings against the decision’s timing, absurd and stressful coming less than a month before entrance exams.

A young man, suffering from synovial sarcoma, trusts “medical advice” found on most popular search engine and dies after spending hundreds of thousands of yuan. His death unleashes public ire against companies that pay to obtain "best result" in the online searches. Hospitals also under fire; now entire departments are outsourced to private health companies.

A video posted on a national social network forces the government into rare public apology for the incident. The officials, however, insist on "zero tolerance" against illegally built structures. The video of the beating.