March - 14/06/2099

The Republic of China government begins efforts to eliminate radiation-induced contamination in the soil and waters of China

Nature · 20:11, 12-Jun-2099

CGTN, Updated 20:35, 12-Jun-2099

As radiation, little as it is due to modern nuclear weapons containing less radiation, is blown away by the wind, it has become evidently clear to both the government and populace that the soil and water of the Republic of China must be cleansed.

Since soil is essential to agriculture, the government has authorised the immediate commencement of a project to clean the soil of radiation. This will be done using soil washing in the short term and phytoremediation in the long term with continuous environmental monitoring for the next decade with a large public awareness campaign to properly inform and teach the populace to conduct itself safely to boot.

Workers conducting the national soil survey of 2099, the first of its kind in decades

In order to do this, nearly 20 million convicts, criminals sentenced to community service, exploited foreign "Xinnuli" workers, volunteers, and highly-paid professionals along with over 10 million members of the Militia of China will be mobilised for the project and be given $50 billion USD. Due to radiation being surface-level, the large amount of available workers, and substantial state investment it is believed that remediation implementation may take as little as a few months to a year.

Prisoners after having been transported to an undisclosed site, being instructed on necessary safety precautions for the numerous tasks allocated to them

Of course, the soil is not the only part of China that urgently requires remediation. The water supply, particularly the rivers and lakes, shall be remediated aswell with a similar mobilisation of the labour force, funding, and similarly light radiation. A mix of physical, chemical, and biological strategies are to be used for remediation. Strategies include ion exchange, reverse osmosis, distillation, chemical precipitation, installing physical barriers to remediate in parts, electrocoagulation, different biological treatments, etc. It is estimated that it should take about the same amount of time as the remediation of Chinese soil to be complete.

A remediation site near Xining, Qinghai

To create an extra supply of clean drinking water, coastal provinces are to expand existing desalination plants and build more to turn ocean water into clean drinking water. These will mostly be set up in provinces that lack major rivers have a large distance between such water sources. These include Fujian, parts of Shandong, Guangxi, parts of Liaoning, parts of Guangdong, parts of Hebei, parts of Heilongnan, and parts of Heilongbei. In addition, water recycling systems are to be improved and expanded. This project will receive $15 billion USD in funding with a few million labourers allocated to the endeavour.

An existing desalination plant in Qingdao, Shandong

Preparations for the Dragon Boat Festival of 2099 announced, preparations raise morale

Culture · 05:26, 07-Jun-2099

CGTN, Updated 05:26, 07-Jun-2099

June 23rd. That is the day that this year's Dragon Boat Festival will be celebrated. Though chaos has not ensued, there are still concerns and doubts and questions. The government has announced that like the Qingming Festival, the populace will be permitted to observe it. There will be an expanded allowed time of 10 hours out of the day.

The race of the Dragon Boat Festival of 2097 in Guangzhou

The Dragon Boat Festival's most notable traditions are Dragon Boat races and the eating of Zongzi. Dragon Boat races are self-explanatory, and Zongzi is a dish made of glutinous rice with various sweet or savoury fillings. Zongzi with fillings of meat and eggs are to be distributed amongst the populace in the hopes that the inclusion of meat will raise morale.

Zongzi with a pork filling

Participants of the Dragon Boat races will have a limited time window to train in their boats due to the limitations caused by radiation. Though there are some such concerns, specialists have confirmed that it will be safe to watch and even participate despite radiation so long as necessary precautions are taken and the window of time be short.

Boaters during the Dragon Boat Festival of 2097 in Hangzhou

National Protection Army Rocket Force releases new missiles

China · 22:37, 14-Jun-2099

CGTN, Updated 23:11, 14-Jun-2099

The National Protection Army Rocket Force has released the CJ-300, hypersonic long-range land attack cruise missiles. 120 have been produced so far. Production continues.

CJ-300

CJ-300 being launched

Education reforms announced, to take place once lockdown ends

China · 05:26, 07-Jun-2099

CGTN, Updated 05:26, 07-Jun-2099

The Chinese education system is renowned for its emphasis on memorisation and test-taking. It has made strides in STEM fields and is known for the Gaokao, the most difficult test that serves as the national undergraduate admissions test.

The main building of Tsinghua University, China's highest ranked university that is prestigious both nationally and globally

However, it is also abound with issues such as stress and anxiety caused by the heavy emphasis on the Gaokao and for inequality despite efforts to curb such. As times change, the education system must aswell. Therefore, the government has announced major reforms to take place for education.

Due to changing needs, the education system is to be reformed to foster creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. To do this, there will be a shift to inquiry-based, project-based, and interdisciplinary approaches in the education system. This will not curb the significance of one's Gaokao results.

Students taking the Gaokao in a highschool near Beijing

Rising concerns of exam-stress and mental health issues has prompted the state to employ many more psychologists and or pay for one's bills should they to go to experts unconnected to the state to reduce wait times and help more students and on a larger scale. During the taking of the Gaokao, AI and the already extensive state surveillance network will be used to prevent cheating.

A teacher showcasing a government inspector his school's monitoring system to prove that it is functional

As the populace is restricted to lockdown, education has been shifted to online schooling. While once lockdown is over online education will not be feasible, online tutoring is. Once lockdown ends, students will all receive state laptops free-of-charge should they wish to receive them. Additional academic support, remedial classes, and enrichment programs will also be made available in all schools, in-person. The education system, particularly in more remote regions, is to receive more state investment.

This will allow students to learn important skills in technology, receive online tutoring from the many government programs which offer such, and use new education programs that incorporate AI. This will also make government resources available for all students, no matter wealth or location, as many text books are simply online copies that are distributed amongst education workers, and also allow for effective monitoring which can be used to act accordingly using AI and which will be used to make state curriculums.

AI headbands used to monitor students' concentration, a particularly extreme example of the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the Chinese education system
 

In a controversial new policy, a western policy of requiring students to meet 100 volunteer hours to graduate has been enacted. However, students will be permitted to take a government entrepreneurial program instead. The goal of this is to make it so that students, who would likely be pressured by family into choosing the entrepreneurial program due to the amount of required hours if they weren't already opting out by their own volition, have values of entrepreneurship, creativity, innovation, and risk-taking.

The program will include training, directives, mock entrepreneurial opportunities, and the teaching of managerial skills through hands-on experiences and challenges.

Students in the youth entrepreneurship program

In addition, a new policy making compensation for all teachers be based off performance has been enacted. Elementary and middle school teachers have already been compensated based on compensation for nearly 90 years. Despite this, the average salary of teachers and even the lowest compensations are higher than the average national salary. This is unsurprising, as respect for teachers is a core element of Chinese culture and Confucianism.

In fact, nearly all state workers and employees of state-owned companies are to be paid based off compensation to incentivise good performance at work. These state employees, depending on their profession, will even be permitted to leave early should they wish so long as they have met their quota. Little else is going to change, as private schools are already abolished and all education has been made free-of-charge already.

A Chinese teacher who became a web celebrity during lockdown