08/05/09 pjb ‘TWENTY YEARS ON’
00:00 ONCE A YEAR THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE, A VAST MONUMENT TO COMMUNIST POWER, PUTS ON A HIGHLY-ORCHESTRATED SHOW OF DEMOCRACY.
THREE THOUSAND DELEGATES COME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL SESSION OF CHINA’S PARLIAMENT, THE NATIONAL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS.
IT’S A WEEK OF POLITICAL THEATRE…A RITUAL ENDORSEMENT OF COMMUNIST PARTY DECISIONS…BUT
IT’S ALSO THE TIME WHEN THE GOVERNMENT SETS OUT ITS AGENDA FOR THE YEAR.
THIS YEAR PREMIER WEN JIANBAO WARNED OF GRAVE DIFFICULTIES AHEAD… BECAUSE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
SUBTITLES: PREMIER WEN JIABAO
01.07 This year is crucial for the eleventh five year plan
01:10 It will be the most difficult year
01.14 for China’s economic development
01.:17 since the beginning of the 21st century.
01:20 We face arduous tasks
01:24 in reform, development, and stability.
STABILITY IS ALWAYS A PRIORITY…THE SPECIAL CONCERN FOR 2009 IS THAT THE FINANCIAL CRISIS MAY CREATE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IN A YEAR OF SENSITIVE ANNIVERSARIES WHICH COULD SPARK PROTESTS.
HEADING FOR HOME, DELEGATES POUR OUT ONTO TIANANMEN SQUARE WHERE THE ARMY SHOT DOWN PROTESTORS IN 1989.
STANDUP: WHEN THE TANKS ROLLED UP TO THE SQUARE THEY PUT AN END TO WEEKS OF CLAMOUR FOR CHANGE LED BY STUDENTS… MANY PEOPLE WOULD STILL LIKE TO SEE MORE REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT THAN THE SHAM PARLIAMENT …BUT TIMES HAVE CHANGED SINCE 1989…AND TWENTY YEARS ON… THERE’S NO SIGN A REVIVAL OF ORGANIZED POLITICAL PROTEST
STUDENTS ARE INDEED BACK OUT ON THE STREETS… BUT IN THIS YEAR OF FINANCIAL CRISIS, UNEMPLOYED YOUNG PEOPLE ARE NOT PROTESTING… THEY ARE POUNDING THE PAVEMENTS LOOKING FOR JOBS.
SIX MILLION STUDENTS WILL GRADUATE THIS SUMMER…AND COMPETITION IS STIFF FOR THE CLASS OF ’09. AT JOB FAIRS LIKE THIS ONE, THERE ARE FAR MORE APPLICANTS THAN OPENINGS.
ZHENG MEI LI SAYS ALL HER FRIENDS ARE OUT LOOKING FOR WORK… AND ALMOST ANY JOB WILL HAVE TO DO.
SUBTITLES: ZHENG MEILI STUDENT
03:12 It’s hard, but people do find something. 03:16 My friend just called to say she got a job. 03:20 There are good jobs and not-so-good ones
03:23 The financial crisis.
03:26 makes it more difficult 03:30 Most are finding jobs in hotels or travel firms.
03:34 They don’t make much and it’s very hard,
03:39 both physically and mentally.
03:44 It’s not good for the long term future,
03:53 But it’s ok when you are young.
03:57 There are two or three months till graduation
04:00 We’ll see…
EMPLOYERS HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY CANDIDATES…AND TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MORE ADVENTUROUS AND SHOW MORE INITIATIVE THAN THEIR PREDECESSORS SAYS TENG REN DONG
SUBTITLES: TENG RENDONG EMPLOYER
04:19 Ten to twenty years ago, 04:22 students were not so bold and open-minded, 04:25 but they were more down to earth. 04:28 It would be good if 04:30 candidates combined both qualities
20 YEARS AGO MOST STUDENTS HAD TO TAKE THE JOBS THEY WERE ASSIGNED BY THE GOVERNMENT… AND DIDN’T HAVE MUCH EXPERIENCE WITH THE JOB MARKET... TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE KNOW MORE AND EXPECT MORE… BUT MANY CHINESE SAY THEY HAVE LOST THEIR IDEALISM .
ACROSS THE CITY FROM THE JOB FAIR, AN ELDERLY MAN WHO HAS SPENT THE PAST TWENTY YEARS IN JAIL OR UNDER HOUSE ARREST SAYS STUDENTS HAVE ECONOMIC CHOICES BUT NO POLITICAL ONES. BAO TONG WAS SECRETARY TO THE PARTY LEADER ZHAO ZIYANG WHO WAS TOPPLED BY HARDLINERS IN THE WEEKS BEFORE THE MASSACRE.
SUBTITLES: BAO TONG, OFFICIAL UNDER HOUSE ARREST
05:20 Who is responsible for that?
05:24Are the students at fault?
05:27 Is it that they don’t want to love their own country
05:30 and care about its future? 05:33 I don’t think so. 05:36They are forced to be like this.
05:40 Students today are afraid 05:43 to think about the future of their country.
05:45 They are afraid
05:48 to have their own noble ideals.
05:52They are forced to be this way.
THESE STUDENTS AT BEIJING UNIVERSITY’S SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE FINANCIAL CRISIS.
FINANCE PROFESSOR MICHAL PETTIS MEETS THEM ONCE A WEEK TO SECOND-GUESS WHAT THE BANK OF CHINA IS DOING.
THEY ARE MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN ECONOMICS THAN POLITICS.
THE CLASS ILLUSTRATES AN IMPORTANT POINT. STUDENTS HAVE MANY MORE CHOICES AND MUCH MORE FREEDOM THAN THEY USED TO HAVE.
NOW MANY FOCUS ON CAREERS BECAUSE THEY CAN… AND MOST WILL FIND WORK.
SOUNDBITE MICHAEL PETTIS AT BEIDA
Peking University is the number one university for the financial services industry and the global investment banks to hire from and that market has contracted a lot. We’re still getting students getting great jobs but much less than last year and the year before, but from that point of view it’s a nervousness of lower expectations. They are going to get jobs. As you down the university system, college unemployment is clearly rising and there’s a lot of nervousness among the students.
WHAT’S STRIKING ABOUT THESE STUDENTS IS THEIR OPTIMISM AND SELF-CONFIDENCE
SOUNDBITE: STUDENT
I ‘m really excited about a career in investment banking, although it’s down and down this year, but I think it’s worth trying because in investment banking you can focus on what’s happening in the real world.
PROFESSOR PETTIS HAS ANOTHER LIFE… AFTER NIGHT FALL HE RUNS A ROCK AND ROLL CLUB.
HE RUNS D22 AS A NON-PROFIT VENTURE BECAUSE HE LOVES THE MUSIC…AND WANTS TO GIVE YOUNG CHINESE ROCK MUSICIANS A PLACE TO PLAY.
SOUNDBITE: MICHAEL PETTIS , CLUB OWNER
10.27.57 China is going through big cultural social transformation, in which more and more students are questioning the values they grew up with. SOT more and more of them are interested in literature and music and the arts and to a certain extent because of rising unemployment among college students I suspect that speeds up the process in which college students start questioning exactly what kind of life they want to live and we’ve certainly seen an increasing interest in the last year or so among students and high schools students around china who want to know more about music and arts…and beatniks and jack kerouack and all that.
LIKE ROCK AND ROLL EVERYWHERE… THE MUSIC EMBODIES ALL THE IDEALISM…AND THE CYNICISM OF YOUTH… AND FOR THIS BAND AT LEAST, ROCK AND ROLL REBELLION IS PERSONAL, NOT POLITICAL. SINGER-GUITARIST ZHAN PAN SAYS THE GOVERNMENT’S FAVOURITE SLOGAN CALLING FOR A HARMONIOUS SOCIETY IS FINE WITH HIM
SUBTITLES ZHAN PAN, LEAD SINGER, GA DIAO
09:24 Frankly we are not rebelling 09:27 against anything concrete. 09:30 Talk about overthrowing 09:33 the government, for instance, 09:36 is nonsense. 09:39 Rebel against your own heart, 09:42 so you understand more and can help others. 09:46 That’s a harmonious society.
STANDUP: YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE MUCH MORE FREEDOM AND MANY MORE CHOICES IN LIFE THAN THEY DID TWENTY YEARS AGO… AND THEY KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE IN 1989 TO KNOW THAT CHALLENGING THE COMMUNIST PARTY IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
CHINA HAS BEEN CHANGING DRAMATICALLY IN MANY WAYS …BUT THE GOVERNENT INSISTS THAT ONE THING WILL NEVER CHANGE….AND THAT IS COMMUNIST PARTY RULE…. PJB CBC NEWS BEIJING.