Work programs in Xinjiang + Germany’s last AHK flight

Finding melodic names for abhorrent policies – this is what China’s communist leadership is best at. “2023 Spring Breeze” is the name of a work program in Xinjiang that serves a number of purposes. It is intended to provide ordinary farmers with rewarding jobs in industrial enterprises. But there are other reasons than mere philanthropy behind it. In his analysis, Marcel Grzanna describes how Uyghurs are sometimes even forced to move to distant regions in the giant province to find work, far away from their families and under constant surveillance. While they are away, their children are looked after in Han Chinese educational institutions – and ideologically indoctrinated.

The arrival of springtime also marks the end of a small era, especially for China business travelers. For those who had to get to the People’s Republic somehow during the pandemic, the charter flights of the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad were a kind of air bridge. Their planes took off a total of 50 times, bringing almost 10,000 people from West to East and back again. As the last plane takes off from Frankfurt tonight, Joern Petring recaps how these charter flights became a lifeline for the German economy.

Admittedly, a little more self-criticism would be desirable for some politicians. It doesn’t have to be acts of “self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-improvement” – as Xi would like the members of the Communist Party to do. Johnny Erling delves into the origins of a submission ritual in which at least a certain person is always praised.