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  • (protester leader speaking in foreign language)

  • (protesters speaking in foreign language)

  • (protester leader speaking in foreign language)

  • - [Narrator] Imagine if your bank accounts

  • were frozen without warning.

  • (protesters speaking in foreign language)

  • Or you've been paying for an apartment

  • that hasn't been built.

  • That's happening in China

  • where economic woes have pushed people to the streets,

  • and some people online, like homeowners who are threatening

  • to stop paying their mortgages

  • until developers clear construction delays

  • and hand over the homes they bought.

  • China's GDP growth was close to zero

  • during the second quarter

  • amid COVID lockdowns and supply chain issues.

  • These protests highlight specific troubles

  • and parts of China's economy.

  • So here's what's happening and how the authorities

  • are trying to keep things under control.

  • (protesters clamoring)

  • (apprehensive music)

  • In China, there's been no room for political protests

  • to challenge the leadership.

  • Just look at Beijing's suppression

  • of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement since 2019.

  • (protesters speaking in foreign language)

  • But the protests this summer are different.

  • - This shows the recent pattern mass protest in China

  • 'cause people have immediate issues to address

  • that really affect themselves directly.

  • - [Narrator] Tai Zixue is an associate professor

  • who's been studying social activism in China for 20 years.

  • He says protestors can't target the ruling communist party

  • if they want to be heard.

  • - If you have political demands,

  • there's no room for negotiation

  • but the scenarios we have seen are different.

  • They're not political; they're economic

  • or financial interest driven.

  • - [Narrator] One major issue

  • has been the country's real estate sector.

  • Collectively, urban Chinese have nearly 78% of their wealth

  • tied up in residential property.

  • And many have yet to see their new homes

  • because developers don't have enough money

  • to finish building apartments they've pre-sold.

  • To get a sense of how homeowners

  • have been left waiting in limbo,

  • take a look at this chart.

  • The blue line shows the number of housing projects

  • that started construction in 2021.

  • The red line is the number of projects

  • that have been completed.

  • There are few reasons for this.

  • First, the government's strict limits

  • on property developers' leverage

  • cause some of them to default on their debt.

  • Add on top of that, the slowing economy and COVID lockdowns

  • that triggered a drop in home sales

  • which fell nearly 40% in July compared to last year.

  • As a result, many developers have had less cash

  • to fund construction. (light music)

  • So frustrated fires of unfinished homes

  • have joined a movement that's been gathering steam

  • on Chinese social media.

  • These are hundreds of joint letters issued by homeowners

  • for more than 100 cities across the country.

  • They've been circulating online

  • and all of them share a similar message

  • that they'll stop their mortgage payments

  • until developers finish and hand over the apartments.

  • The mortgage revolt left authority scrambling

  • to reassure home buyers that projects will be completed.

  • Some local governments rolled out tax rebates, cash rewards,

  • and lower down payments to boost their property markets.

  • - It's tradition, Chinese protests.

  • You have to make a very loud voice to get heard.

  • (protesters speaking in foreign language)

  • - [Narrator] Another problem

  • that's triggered loud complaints, thanks.

  • In the city of Zhengzhou, protestors vented their anger

  • at rural lenders for freezing their accounts.

  • This comes amid a government investigation

  • into financial misconduct by a private investment group.

  • - Their immediate deal is to get their money back.

  • They're not asking anything more than that.

  • (protesters clamoring)

  • - [Narrator] Chaos erupted

  • when a group of unidentified men in white T-shirts

  • ramped into the crowd.

  • The Wall Street Journal couldn't determine their identity

  • and neither the bank nor the local government

  • responded to request for comment.

  • The incident went viral on Chinese social media

  • and got the attention of the authorities.

  • That's when local officials stepped in

  • and made concessions to appease demonstrators

  • with two rounds of repayments to depositors.

  • - They are giving indications

  • that the government is working with those issues.

  • That's the typical strategy.

  • (bright music)

  • - [Narrator] For China's leaders,

  • maintaining stability is a top economic priority.

  • So to stop the protest from growing,

  • the country's top policy-making body said it would work

  • to resolve problems in the rural banking system.

  • And it told local governments to take direct responsibility

  • for delivering unfinished homes

  • and supporting demand for housing.

  • - So without finding ways to keep the economy going,

  • more problems will show up.

  • This may be the opportunity for them to figure out,

  • okay, what's the best way to move forward.

  • And also to find ways

  • into the national economic policy to solve those issues.

  • - [Narrator] Stability is also the back

  • to our president Xi Jinping needs as he tries

  • to secure a precedent-breaking third term in a few months.

  • (apprehensive music)

(protester leader speaking in foreign language)

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B1 中級 美國腔

中國面對抗議和經濟放緩中人民的不滿(China Wrestles With Protests, Discontent Amid a Slowing Economy | WSJ)

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    flute012 發佈於 2022 年 08 月 17 日
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