Word: shenyang
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...SHENYANG, China—The statue of Chairman Mao in Shenyang rises three or four stories to survey Zhongshan Square, without a doubt cutting a more imposing figure than any Mercedes-chauffeured communist official or donkey-cart-driving farmer in this provincial capital of 7 million. Clad in an overcoat, which probably still leaves him chilly during the northeastern China winters, Mao stretches forth one arm over the sledgehammer-swinging, automatic rifle-slinging soldiers, workers and peasants surging forth from his feet in sculpted struggle against the forces of the West, capitalism, imperialism and whatever else. He offers, in short...
...know all this because Alice is my co-worker. We teach English side by side, and then we return to our respective dwellings in Shenyang and stations in life...
China's leaders have been paralyzed by the conundrum of Shenyang. Failure to stop the spiraling losses of the state factories could destroy China's economic miracle, yet the cure is an exceedingly bitter one: the dismantling of the system that guaranteed workers lifelong employment and social benefits. Pushing ahead with reform depends on how much pain and suffering people will take before they resort to rebellion. In March, Finance Minister Liu Zhongli acknowledged that reform of the enterprises was "important for the destiny" of the nation, but President Jiang Zemin has been moving ahead very cautiously. He seems...
Desperate times demand desperate measures, however, and a few adventurers in Shenyang are forging reforms, even some that may be technically illegal. In many cases, the government looks the other way or even endorses such improvised solutions. What Zhang Hongwei is doing at the state-owned Jinbei minivan factory would hardly shock a Guangdong businessman, but his ways are considered dangerously radical here...
Zhang is no foreign import but a 30-year veteran of the state factory system, a lifelong auto man who runs one of the few profitable heavy industries in Shenyang. When the plant, burdened with 7,000 workers making shoddy cars no one could afford, foundered in the early '90s, the Hong Kong conglomerate Huachen wheedled a 51% share as a joint venture. It went out looking for a mainland general manager and found Zhang...