After the United States helped China join the WTO, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) failed to uphold the promises it made upon accession. Fortunately, the CPTPP has entry standards, and this time, we must not blindly trust the CCP again.
Jack Ma once said, “We have no interest in taking jobs from private businesses, but we’re very interested in shaking up state-owned enterprises.” In China, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) control finance, telecommunications, and various resources. These sectors are riddled with abusive terms. Can you imagine a country where ordinary people might not even be able to withdraw their own money? That’s the reality in China, where banks are state-owned. Even if social media exposes such egregious incidents, there’s often no resolution. SOEs exploit private businesses and citizens alike. In a country where the rule of law is virtually absent, people are left with no choice but to endure. If even the most basic standards of morality cannot be upheld, how can we expect market liberalization or transparency? The profits of SOEs never benefit the general public—they only line the pockets of corrupt officials and dictators.
In China, even asking to be paid can be labeled a criminal act, dubbed “malicious wage demands.” If people gather to demand unpaid wages, they might be charged with “illegal assembly.” If wage claims are criminalized, how could the CCP ever tolerate strikes or labor unions? While China does have a labor law, very few companies actually enforce it. Ironically, most SOEs do comply—perhaps explaining why so many Chinese people fight tooth and nail to become civil servants or work for state-run firms. In private companies, a six-day work week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (the notorious “996” schedule) is common, especially in second- and third-tier cities where having only two days off a month is not unusual.
As for the internet, the CCP is even less likely to allow open access or cross-border data storage. The Great Firewall exists precisely because the CCP fears that once people have free access to the internet and learn the truth, they’ll question the Party’s legitimacy—threatening its grip on power. The CCP has always prioritized “stability maintenance” above all else. Its aim in joining CPTPP is not to benefit the people, but to preserve a narrative of economic stability under its authoritarian rule. In reality, however, ordinary people are feeling increasingly squeezed. The National Bureau of Statistics manipulates numbers to deceive both the public and the world. For example, when calculating unemployment, they exclude millions of recent college graduates and migrant workers. They’ve even invented the term “flexible employment” to disguise underemployment—counting gig workers like DiDi drivers as employed.
Communism thrives in secrecy; transparency is out of the question. In earlier years, even calling for officials to disclose their assets could get one arrested for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Ordinary people live in fear, resorting to self-censorship. The world once gave the CCP a chance by letting it into the WTO, but it broke the rules like a shameless rogue. This time, we must not let it succeed. Only when the CCP falls will the Chinese people have a real chance at happiness—at living in the sunlight.