Between the lines of these new policies, my take is that the concern for foreign arrivals is now not in bringing fresh infections to spread, but rather not needlessly burdening local health care system with sick foreigners. Perhaps not so much a problem in first tier cities, more so along Yunnan borders for example.
Recent news is that starting January 8 (2023) quarantine for international arrivals will not be needed at all.
SCMP reports that China is going to scrap quarantines and reopen borders on January 8. Maybe take with grain of salt, but anyway.
Quote:
China will reopen borders and abandon quarantine after it downgrades its treatment of Covid-19 on January 8.
The decision is the country’s last step in shedding three years of zero-Covid and pivoting to living with the virus.
Covid-19 has been managed as a top category A infectious disease since 2020, putting it on par with bubonic plague and cholera.
[...]
But three sources from provincial health authorities and hospitals in Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu said they were notified by the National Health Commission on Sunday, asking them to prepare for the downgrade to category B management from January 8.
My wife had the fever (max 38.8) one morning in last weekend, but during the day the fever disappeared and since then there has been just some cough, even less than with regular flu I'd say. But she used home test in Monday to confirm it is Covid.
For rest of us in the household, our 5yr threw up in the Monday evening (the cause could have been something else) and the grandmother (who is not vaccinated) has had some coughs, but neither has been feverish, achy or anything else at all. I've had no symptoms at all yet.
I'm not sure if could be a factor, but both me and our son had regular cold infection less than 2 weeks ago (tested negative for Covid), so our defenses could have been readily up for the battle even if the virus is different. Keeping fingers crossed.
With the big boat changing course, I figure we can start new topic on the theme as well.
Anyone sick yet?
My other half had fever today, after her colleque got sick couple of days before. We are assuming it's CoVid, but apparently it's completely voluntary to confirm that or do anything else special either. It's just like flu now, here too.
Her training school was opened week or so ago, but student attendance has been <5%, so they closed shop for the cold spell voluntarily.
And that seems to be the story now. No restrictions from the up, but people taking voluntary steps perhaps even more efficiently than under previous scheme, and staying home. Or maybe it's just the cold.
No results found.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted by@aliennew: "the important thing here is to give the kids of the poor an even break, which is hard to do when the kids of the rich have"
Naturally so. My argument is that the poor should have to pay taxes too (even if very marginal amounts), so that they would learn to ask for better services in exchange for that, and this would work towards breaks their kids get. They would learn to ask for them.
The current 3500 RMB tax break in monthly income, defined in national level, means huge number of rural residents never having to pay income taxes, and I would like to see the tax system reformed so that every person feels contributing to the common good, and in that everyone would be on the same line.
Then people in rural Yunnan and elsewhere could slowly learn to ask for same services as those in Kunming or Shanghai, since they would be contributing to the system on same terms..
Perhaps the money just isn't there, but at least more of the little there is would be directed to be spent properly.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted by@alienew: "Why "in China more than anywhere"?"
Because political system in China is naturally demotivating people from taking part in public interests and discussions for political reasons. They are also arguably quite restricted from pursuing the same goals for religious or spiritual reasons.
Since Deng, Chinese are however allowed and even urged to acquire financial wealth and prosperity. Social participation and activation of the public should therefore piggyback on money here.
The poor shouldn't have to pay taxes to finance the system, but to activate themselves to follow up on those tax contributions.
Specifically on OP, this means motivating to send your children to school, and to certain degree also making you interested to know whether your neighbour does that. And that once they do attend the school, they get the money's worth.of education.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted by"as for the poor caring where the tax goes, many are too ignorant of how governmt works anyhow"
Agreed, but I''d say that it is partly a chicken and egg problem. For better or worse, it is money that makes the world go around, and money can just as well stop it going around. Populism could be one realization of it stop going around.
I believe that in China more than anywhere this nature of money (or exchange of goods in wider context) should be utilized to mobilize the interest of the common people for their common causes.
But it may still be too early for the Chinese government to allow that. Too many skeletons still in open.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted byAnd on the note of 1%ers, if they would be made to pay 1% more tax, the question is whether they would pay it or move to a tax haven somewhere else. Worst case scenario is that instead of them paying 1% more, they would be paying zero.
It is (or should be) a fine balance.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
Posted by@Dazzer: I don't mean the difference being in significantly bigger tax revenue, but the impact for individual families when they recognize that they have to pay their children's education and other state costs (via taxes) out of their very little income anyway, so why not use it..
For a person that makes, for example, a mere 100 RMB a month, 1 RMB or 1% tax taken out would go towards activating them to care how that 1 RMB gets used.
If the local government builds a new school house, they'd feel that they contributed to finance it and that they should use it.