Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon
aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.
Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.
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BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese lawmakers Thursday voted to adopt the country’s long-expected Civil Code at the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, the top legislature.
The Civil Code will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
In addition to general provisions and supplementary provisions, the Civil Code, the world’s latest modern-day civil law, has six parts on real rights, contracts, personality rights, marriage and family, succession, and tort liabilities.
The personal rights, property rights and other lawful rights and interests of the parties to civil legal relations shall be protected by law and shall not be infringed upon by any organization or individual, reads the Civil Code in its opening chapter.
Lawmakers say the codification is not about formulating a new civil law but rather systematically incorporating existing civil laws and regulations, modifying and improving them to adapt to new situations while maintaining their consistency.
A major innovation of China’s Civil Code, jurists say, is embodied in the personality rights part. While some countries have related law provisions, few have a specific law book in civil code dedicated to protecting personality rights.
The personality rights part covers stipulations on a civil subject’s rights to his or her life, body, health, name, portrait, reputation and privacy, among others.
The personality rights part shows that China has reached a new height in protecting the dignity of people, said Chen Jingying, a national lawmaker and vice president of East China University of Political Science and Law.
The Civil Code is a milestone in developing the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and will greatly boost the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance, said Wang Yi, dean of the law school at Renmin University of China.
The plight of these workers, many of whom have been walking for days without adequate food and water, has caused widespread anger in the country.
Train and bus services were shut during the lockdown and even though some have been restarted for migrants, many say they cannot afford the fare and are unsure if they will be accommodated on them due to social distancing norms.
Several have died in making the journey, including 16 migrants who were run over by a train while they were sleeping on the railway tracks.
Media caption Coronavirus: Heartbreaking scenes as India lockdown sparks mass migration
Ms Sitharaman also announced that workers would be able to use ration cards – usually only valid at village level – anywhere in the country regardless of where it was issued.
The ration cards usually entitle holders to subsidised food.
She added that the move towards portable cards would benefit nearly 670 million people and will be completed by March next year.
The government will also provide affordable housing for migrant labour by converting existing vacant government funded housing complexes, among other things.
The announcements on Thursday – the second tranche of a series of economic stimulus measures – were aimed at migrant workers, street hawkers, small traders and small farmers.
The full details of the economic package, which is equivalent to 10% of India’s gross domestic product, will be known in some days as the government is announcing a different tranche every day.
Ms Sitharaman’s announcements also included details of “special credit” to be provided to five million street hawkers who have been forced to cease working over the last month and a half.
To help farmers, the government also announced an emergency $4bn “working capital funding” which would benefit some 30 million small farmers to meet crop requirements in May and June
In March, India said it would provide around 1.7 trillion rupees in direct cash transfers and food security measures, mainly for the poor.
However, Mr Modi’s administration had been accused in some quarters of not having done enough.
The statement, issued on 27 April but only reported this week, singles out stadiums, exhibition centres, museums and theatres as public facilities where it’s especially important to ban plagiarism.
“City constructions are the combination of a city’s external image and internal spirit, revealing a city’s culture,” the government statement says.
It calls for a “new era” of architecture to “strengthen cultural confidence, show the city’s features, exhibit the contemporary spirit, and display the Chinese characteristics”.
Image copyright STR / AFP / GETTYImage caption – Not the Arc de Triomphe, but a college gate in Wuhan
The guidelines on “foreign” architecture were mostly welcomed on Chinese social media.
“The ban is great,” wrote a Weibo user, according to state media the Global Times. “It’s much better to protect our historical architectures than build fake copycat ones.”
Another recalled seeing an imitation White House in Jiangsu province. “It burned my eyes,” she said.
Image copyright OLIVIER CHOUCHANA / GETTYImage caption Thames Town, an English-themed town near Shanghai, pictured in 2008
In 2013, the BBC visited “Thames Town”, an imitation English town in Songjiang in Shanghai.
The town features cobbled streets, a medieval meeting hall – even a statue of Winston Churchill – and was a popular spot for wedding photos.
“Usually if you want to see foreign buildings, you have to go abroad,” said one person. “But if we import them to China, people can save money while experiencing foreign-style architecture.”
Image copyright WANG ZHAO / GETTYImage caption – Raffles City, Chongqing, in 2019 – mimicking the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore
China, of course, is not the only country to borrow – or copy – other countries’ designs.
Las Vegas in the US revels in its imitations of iconic foreign architecture including the Eiffel Tower and Venetian canals.
Thailand also has developments that mimic the Italian countryside and charming English villages, mainly aimed at domestic tourists.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 