September 28, 2012
Translated by Zhang Dian

Editors from the EO's Chinese website publish a daily collection of extracts from commentary pieces that have appeared in the mainland press over recent days. Every Friday the EO's English team translates a selection of these opinion pieces.

Retirement at the Age of 63

Background:
Dai Xianglong (戴相龍), secretary of the National Social Security Fund Council (全國社會保障基金理事會), admitted on Sept 25 that the pension system is flawed. He also said that to fix the flaws, people may be asked to work longer before retirement.

Commentary:
The consensus on reform of the pension system can only be reached after enough information is opened to the public and people have a clear understanding of the system. Raising the retirement age only makes sense after people agree to reform the pensions system. Otherwise, apathy towards the new measures will naturally pop up.
Qilu Evening News（齊魯晚報(bào)） 
Original article: [Chinese]

In our country, only 12 percent of fiscal expenses go toward social welfare, which is 30 to 50 percent lower than that of developed countries. If we invested 30 percent of our fiscal expenses in social welfare, we’d have an extra 2 trillion yuan. The real solution to insufficient pension funds is to expand the sources of funding and enlarge the governmental subsidy rather than just delaying the retirement age. 
Beijing News （新京報(bào)） 
Original article: [Chinese]

The controversy over the pension system is a conflict between the people and the government. Should the government give part of its fiscal revenue or should the underclass foot the bill?
China Youth Daily (中國青年報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]

Man Beaten for Driving Japanese Car

Background:
Li Jianli (李建利), was seriously injured by a man with an iron U-shaped lock amid an anti-Japan protest in Xi’an. This was because Li was driving a Japanese car. The offender hit Li on the head, and then continued to deliver three blows after he fell down.  Li is now partially paralyzed.

Commentary:
Anti-Japan protests have been an excuse for a group of people who want to release their own pressure through violence. For those who applaud the smashing of Japanese cars, do they still feel the same after watching this video clip showing violence done to our own compatriots?
Beijing News(新京報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]

When people realize how much pain this violent behavior gives victims, they can understand how serious the outcome is. The massive negative impact of this smashing can be shown to the whole society. Hence, we should stand against any illegal street violence.
Global Times(環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]

The sympathy shown towards the victim by the majority of people shows the main stream Chinese morality. But we can also see a small group of people who prefer violence. These two sides both reflect the real China, and the dark side may need more attention from us.
Qilu Evening News(齊魯晚報(bào))  
Original article: [Chinese]

Panjin Incident

Background：
Police and villagers in Panjin (盤錦) of Liaoning (遼寧) clashed over the re-location of a farm, resulting in the shooting death of one villager by a police officer. According to the officer, he shot because his life was threatened.

Commentary:
Truth is the prerequisite for justice. We hope that an independent investigation can be done on this incident and make the truth be known to everyone. Only when the truth is disclosed can the dead villager’s rights be protected by law. It is a shame on us to have so many tragedies result from re-location problems.
Daily Sunshine (晶報(bào)), a commercial daily published by the Shenzhen Press Group. 
Original article: [Chinese]   

We believe that the basis for police opening fire should be the law rather than ethics. It is true that the police shouldn’t shoot people, but we should also take into consideration the specific occasion before we make any comment about that officer.
Global Times (環(huán)球時(shí)報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]

Golden Moon Cakes

Background:
With Mid-Autumn Festival around the corner, moon cakes made of gold and silver are catching people’s eyes. A two-piece set of 50-gram golden moon cakes is priced at 47,620 yuan, while 50-gram silver moon cakes are sold for 850 yuan each. These moon cakes are selling well because companies will often foot the bill in the name of fostering business relationships. Many government officials prefer it as a holiday gift.

Commentary: 
If the officials are not constrained by strict rules and the public fiscal information is not transparent, there will be no end to gifts like golden moon cakes. The invisible hand of corruption will keep disrupting our social order.
Beijing News(新京報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]

We have to figure out the relationship between corruption and golden moon cakes. We shouldn’t blame moon cakes for everything. After all, the golden cakes are only one product that enables corruption. Without golden moon cakes, millions of alternatives are available. In essence, the corrupted systems and officials are responsible for our social problems.  
Guangzhou Daily (廣州日報(bào))
Original article: [Chinese]