An elected representative in a district People’s Congress in Beijing, Wu Qing is known for being brazenly opinionated and a strong proponent of women’s rights. She teaches at the Rural Women Training School in Beijing, described by Voice of America thusly:

Wu Qing founded the school to teach literacy and job skills to women and girls from the countryside.

She believes she can help rural women improve their lives while helping her country. “If rural women of all ages can go to school and find jobs and be treated with the same respect as people from the city, only then can problems with China’s legal system be resolved,” she said.

Wu Qing’s lesson is partly a motivational speech and partly a civics class. She shows her students they have many rights guaranteed by China’s constitution. She says citizens must “supervise” their government. “If someone is watching me, then I have to proceed carefully. That’s how an official should behave,” she states. “But too many people in China keep their eyes closed, so the government is free to do as it pleases.”

Oh boy, can someone say “new girl crush?” Hit the jump for other International Women’s Day news.

• Ok, so the headline, “Chinese President urges women to make more contributions” may make Hu Jintao seem like kind of a dick, but the article clarifies that he’s encouraging “Party committees and governments at all levels [to] resolutely carry out the basic state policy of equality between men and women, eliminate discrimination against women, and crack down on violations of women’s rights in light with law.” That’s worth supporting – hope he follows up with some actual policy. [Xinhua]
• CNNGo asked a couple women around Shanghai what they think about women’s places in China and discrimination. Maybe because they’re in Shanghai, they all seem to feel like discrimination doesn’t exist. [CNNGo]
• Or maybe they’re just in the wrong (er… right) circles. Because according to a recent study, male students who graduate this summer have an 8.5% better chance of finding a job nationwide compared to females. [Shanghai Daily]
• March 7 has apparently become “Girls’ Day” as a preclude to International Women’s Day. Also named “Shanzhai Valentine’s Day,” it’s a day when boys deliver gifts to the girls they like… some dorms have even begun holding Girl’s Day activities! So, like, keep it in mind for next year, I guess. [People's Daily]

Expats In Local Chinese Government

Currently the Chinese government does not allow foreigners of any nature to work in civil service. One other begs the question, would really be so bad. “Currently, foreigners in China cannot work in the civil service. The law states that civil servants, or the gongwuyuan, must be Chinese citizens. A public servant, no matter which country they work in, ideally serves the public good. Does it make a difference if that person’s nationality is not of the country that they are working for? Several states have foreign nationals who directly work for the government they live under and many more countries have naturalized citizens who are public servants. The South Korean government, for instance, sponsored a program in 2007 where foreigners can serve in a special division which is the equivalent of the “street committee” in China. One Italian and one Canadian were selected to serve a two-year post. In Japan, local level civil service positions are open to foreign nationals. Several citizens have taken advantage of the opportunity, especially those of Korean decent. Higher ranks in the government do have a nationality requirement for service, however.”

Read more from Global Times

The Job Market in China

China International Business sits down with Andy Bentote to discuss the state of finding a job in China. Expats in China it’s one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but if you are thinking about moving to China you need to know what exactly that means. “Are the days of the decadent expat packages now over in China? In terms of expatriates being hired, we don’t tend to handle them as they are generally hired internally. By that I mean that most top expats are brought in from the head office or another country to oversee China businesses because they know the business and can continue the company culture. We do get a lot of calls from expatriate candidates, but we find that it’s very difficult to help them. The top, top guys still get packages that pay for [children's] schooling, cars with drivers, housing etc, but many companies are only offering half-pat packages that offer some benefits such as housing and car. There’s also a huge change in that there are many expats who enjoy living in China and want to stay after their current job has ended. For those candidates we have to ask two questions: 1) How good is your Putonghua? (the Chinese Mandarin dialect) 2) Are they flexible with the benefits package?”

Read more from China International Business

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