In China's power circle, it's a man's world at the top

Agencies
October 23, 2017

Beijing, Oct 23: When Xi Jinping warned against "pleasure seeking" in a stern message to the Communist Party congress last week, the audience included few women and some notable absentees -- officials ousted by graft scandals involving illicit affairs.

The scene was a reminder that China`s leadership remains a man`s world, where women have been excluded from the highest echelons of power and men have abused their positions in sex-for-favours scandals.

Women represent only a quarter of the 2,300 delegates attending the week-long congress held just twice a decade, highlighting the yawning gender gap in the world`s most populous nation.

Since the Communists took power in 1949, under Mao Zedong who famously declared that "women hold up half the sky", no woman has ever risen to the top ruling council.

Delegates at the congress will choose members of the party`s Central Committee, where women account for just 4.9 percent of the 205-strong membership -- down from 6.4 percent in 2012.

The committee then has the task of selecting the 25-person executive Politburo, which currently has only two women, and its elite standing committee -- which boasts seven ageing men.

When the new Politburo Standing Committee lineup is unveiled on Tuesday or Wednesday, no woman is expected to break the glass ceiling and join them.

Guo Jianmei, a leading lawyer and women`s rights advocate, had prepared a letter to the party congress criticising China`s lack of attention to women`s participation in politics.

"The letter describes this situation but there is no way to submit it, because no party representative is willing to help us," Guo said.

"China has generally not given any thought on how to promote women`s leadership status."Gender equality is enshrined in the constitution but analysts say traditional social structures have kept women from gaining more space in politics, pressuring them to prioritise family roles over their careers.

The official All China Women`s Federation coined the derogatory term "leftover women" in 2007 to describe unmarried professionals after the government announced a campaign to improve population "quality" by encouraging educated women to have babies.

A party congress delegate from Shanghai said she did not see a problem.

"China has already achieved equality between the sexes. The government supports women`s aspirations," she told AFP, declining to give her name.

While women have been left out of top jobs, Xi`s anti-corruption drive has revealed a large number of cases involving men committing adultery, which is against party rules.

"All thinking and behaviour in the vein of pleasure seeking, inaction and sloth, and problem avoidance are unacceptable," he intoned last week, reminding party members to lead by example.

The most prominent figure netted so far in the graft campaign is 74-year-old former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who was accused of committing adultery with a number of women "in power-for-sex and money-for-sex trades".

And last month rising political star Sun Zhengcai from the Chongqing megalopolis was expelled for "serious violations of party discipline" including allegations that he took bribes and "exchanged money for sex", state media said. The litany of alleged crimes in corruption cases can sometimes be cover for factional score-settling. But official data shows that men in power hand ample ammunition to their critics.

A 2013 study from Renmin University in Beijing found that 95 percent of corrupt officials had extramarital affairs, and at least 60 percent had kept a mistress, which typically involves providing an apartment and an allowance.

"It`s definitely still prevalent," said Beijing-based writer Zhang Lijia, who conducted research on China`s sex industry for her novel, "Lotus".

"The traditional practice of men showing their social standing with numerous concubines has returned in the form of mistress culture."

In recent years, authorities have jailed and intimidated outspoken critics on women`s issues.

Ye Haiyan, one of China`s most prominent feminist activists, gained fame for her brazen protests against a string of child sexual abuse cases.

But she said she does not dare to even write blog posts about women`s rights issues now.

"They get deleted right away, and authorities have pressured multiple landlords to evict me," she said. "The harassment only stopped after I moved in with my husband."

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News Network
May 21,2020

London, May 21: Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown - and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday.

Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores - nearly a third more than fathers - according to the Boston Consulting Group, which questioned parents in five countries.

"Women have been doing too much household work for too long, and this crisis is pushing them to a point that's simply unsustainable," Rachel Thomas, of U.S.-based women's rights group LeanIn.Org, said in response to the data.

"We need a major culture shift in our homes and in our companies ... We should use this moment to build a better way to work and live – one that's fair for everybody."

Researchers say fallout from the pandemic weighs on women in a host of ways, be it in rising domestic violence or in lower wages, as some women cut paid work to take on the new duties.

With lockdowns shutting schools and keeping citizens at home, creating a mountain of domestic work, public campaigns from Georgia to Mexico have urged men to do their fair share.

But women, who on average already do more at home than men, are now shouldering most of the new coronavirus burden, too, said the survey of more than 3,000 working parents in the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

Women's unpaid hours at home have nearly doubled to 65 hours a week, said the survey, against 50 logged by an average father.

British women are more likely to support others in the COVID-19 pandemic and are finding it harder to stay positive, according to separate analysis released this week by polling firm Ipsos MORI and feminist organisation The Fawcett Society.

It is "no surprise" to see women do more childcare and housekeeping on top of their day jobs, Jacqui Hunt of women's rights group Equality Now, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, there are "hopeful signs" that men in West Africa are sharing more childcare during the pandemic in a shift in social norms, found a small rapid analysis by humanitarian organisation CARE International released on Wednesday.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Moscow, Jun 27: The number of people who have contracted the coronavirus infection in Russia has increased by 6,852 over the past day to a total of 627,646, the country's COVID-19 Response Center said in a daily update on Saturday.

"Over the past day, 6,852 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in 85 regions of Russia, including 2,058, or 30 per cent, of asymptomatic cases," the response centre said.

Of the total 6,852 newly detected cases, 750 have been confirmed in Moscow, 366 in Moscow Region, and 280 in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, according to the report.

The reported daily dynamics included 188 new fatalities, which brought the cumulative death toll to 8,969.

Total recoveries now count 393,352, an increase of 9,200 over the past day, including 1,852 in Moscow, 1,421 in Moscow Region and 716 in St. Petersburg.

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Democratic presidential candidate and former US vice-president Joe Biden has said that if he wins the November elections, strengthening the relationship with India which is America’s "natural partner", will be a high priority for his administration.

"India needs to be a partner in the region for our safety's sake and quite frankly for theirs," he said in response to a question on India-US relationship during a virtual fundraiser event on Wednesday.

At the fundraiser hosted by Chairman and CEO of Beacon Capital Partners Alan Leventhal, the former vice president said that India and the United States were natural partners.

"That partnership, a strategic partnership, is necessary and important in our security," Biden said when asked by an attendee whether India is critical to the US' national security.

Referring to his eight years as the vice president, he said, "In our administration, I was proud to play a role more than a decade ago in securing Congressional approval for the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, which is a big deal".

"Helping open the door to great progress in our relationship and strengthening our strategic partnership with India was a high priority in the Obama-Biden administration and will be a high priority if I'm elected president,” Biden said.

Both as the vice president and a senator from Delaware, he was a big supporter of India-US relationship.

About the November polls, Biden said that the character of the country is on the ballot. The upcoming election is the most important poll of a lifetime and that the country is currently engaged in a battle for its soul, he claimed.

Biden also slammed President Donald Trump and his administration over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Trump ignored warnings from the very beginning, refused to prepare and failed to protect the country. Not just now but throughout his presidency, undermining the very core pillars of ours, what I would argue, moral and economic strength.

"I really do believe that our country is crying out for leadership and maybe even more important, some healing. Today, we have an enormous opportunity not only to rebuild but to build back better than before. To build a better future. That's what America does," he added.

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