(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) "Neue Zuricher Zeitung" commented that Beijing's cafes have been overcrowded for some time. However, many of them are not spending leisure time, but young people who do not want their families to know that they are unemployed: they leave home in the morning, spend the day in a cafe, and return home in the evening. This creates the illusion of going to work as usual from 9 to 5. This review titled "The Decadent Young Generation of China" reads:
"The mood of China's younger generation has not been as bad as it is now for a long time. One of the reasons is the sluggish state of the job market. There are few companies hiring and many companies laying off employees. Instead of raising wages, many companies are cutting wages and asking employees to work more hours. For some time, some companies have even required new employees to sign a letter of intent and agree to work overtime on weekends every two weeks. After the employer's actions caused public outrage online, the relevant authorities quickly closed the relevant discussion on WeChat.
The main reason why companies are reluctant to recruit employees is China's continued economic downturn and severe weak domestic demand. As the former pillar of the Chinese economy, the real estate industry has been unable to get out of the crisis, and the trade war with the United States and the European Union has made the Chinese economy even worse.
Artificial intelligence, promoted by the government, has also cast a shadow on the employment prospects of young people. High-tech companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance have reduced their workforces, although they have not admitted that the layoffs are related to artificial intelligence. However, experts with insider knowledge of the business confirm that artificial intelligence is a key factor in driving business streamlining. In other industries, the use of artificial intelligence has also led to layoffs. "
A commentary in Neue Zurich Zeitung pointed out that among young people aged 16 to 24, the unemployment rate has reached close to 20%. The impact of unemployment on China's younger generation can be imagined because they grew up in an era of rapid development in China. Each generation can achieve a substantial improvement in living standards, which is almost taken for granted:
"However, the understanding of the past is no longer applicable. For the younger generation, the dreams that were originally thought to be achievable, such as finding a decent job, buying a house, and starting a family, have now been shattered. Anger, confusion, and worry are spreading rapidly among young people. Fifty years after Deng Xiaoping launched China's reform and opening up route, the unprecedented economic boom is facing an epochal turning point.
And an uncertain economic future isn't the only reason young people are feeling frustrated. More and more people are suffering from severe mental illness and anxiety. A survey of 1,300 students from China's prestigious universities showed that many young students feel overwhelmed by their families' high expectations, performance pressure and cutthroat competition in the job market. Many respondents said they had fallen into a 'state of anxiety and mental paralysis'.
The high cost of the government's rapid modernization drive over the past few decades is now emerging. Many people feel stressed out. As a result, more and more intelligent young people are withdrawing from economic life. Xi Jinping originally hoped that the younger generation could lead China to realize its dream of becoming a powerful country, but now, they have chosen to become deserters out of frustration and exhaustion. "
The "Big Three" must be stopped from harming European interests
Regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold trilateral talks between China, the United States and Russia in Shenzhen, China, in November this year to discuss the Ukraine issue, Der Spiegel commented that Putin is trying to form a dangerous alliance with Trump and Xi Jinping, and the EU has the ability to prevent this from happening:
"When Europeans make strategic plans, they must take into account the possibility that Putin will use Ukrainian resources to deal with Europe in the future. To avoid this situation, Europe must make it clear to the proposed 'Big Three' that Europe is not only able to endure pain, but also has the ability to make the other party feel pain. To this end, Europe can use trade weapons. After all, China and the United States cannot do without the European market.
In early October this year, the Europeans' trade leverage succeeded in Beijing, and China finally made concessions on the issue of protecting the European automobile industry. In January of this year, the Europeans showed their trump card: the EU’s anti-coercion tools, finally forcing Trump to abandon his fanatical plan to annex Greenland. German Chancellor Mertz and French President Macron also recently put forward proposals to further strengthen trade tools. This illustrates a truth: In a rapidly changing world, whoever cannot protect his or her own interests will become a loser.
Before Trump and Putin further reach an agreement that harms Ukraine's interests, especially before the possible trilateral talks between China, the United States, and Russia in Shenzhen, European political leaders must make their position clear: any agreement that harms Europe's economic interests will receive the strongest response from the EU. Although from a legal perspective, trade policy tools can only be used to deal with trade conflicts and cannot be used to deal with unrecognizable geopolitical trends. But the current situation gives us ample reason to be flexible. For example, the EU could consider sanctioning more Chinese companies that provide supplies to Russian aggressors. Of course, Europeans will also suffer from such sanctions, but if Europeans continue to stand by, they will ultimately suffer even greater pain. "
