ប្រទេសចិនត្រូវស្វែងរកវិធីត្រឹមត្រូវដើម្បីលើកកម្ពស់ជីវិតរបស់យុវជន

Communist Party has taken aim at after-school tutoring, celebrity fandom and video games in recent months

But it needs to consider whether an unequal and restrictive society is the foundation of a strong and modern nation

The Communist Party says it wants to protect young Chinese from what it sees as “toxic” influences, and in recent months has taken aim at everything from after-school tutoring to video games.

Teenagers are facing restrictions on their use of technology, including that under-18s can only play online games for three hours a week. There is a clampdown on celebrity fandom, which Beijing sees as unhealthy, with regulators targeting “effeminate” pop idols, “morally incorrect” stars, and fan clubs.

The government has also cracked down on the lucrative for-profit tutoring sector, saying the aim is to reduce the cost of education and improve school-life balance.

All of these moves reflect a patriarchal political culture and the party’s ambition to “guide” every aspect of society, as well as anxiety over anything that could undermine its rule.

The party has also emphasised that it wants a healthy new generation to fulfil President Xi Jinping’s goal for China to become a strong and modern nation by 2049.

For decades, the party’s focus has been on protecting young people from the “infiltration” of Western political ideology. After the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, it doubled down on patriotic education to fill the void as people turned away from communist ideology. Now it is looking for ways to connect with the new generations who have grown up in a booming economy.

They are happy to spend and to borrow money for consumer goods, unlike their parents who tended to save their cash, according to sociologist Li Chunling, whose new book China’s Youth looks at how young people will shape China’s future.

Many aspire to a certain lifestyle, but there is growing inequality. Li found that pay and opportunities are tied to family background, as well as the rural-city divide and education. There is a growing trend of “class solidification” and social mobility is difficult.

Some are choosing to leave the rat race. In recent months, the pressures of China’s work culture have seen a trend emerge among young people known as tang ping, or “lying flat”, that rejects overwork and social expectations in favour of a simpler lifestyle.

Others who want to study abroad could find it harder to do so amid tensions between China and the West and visa restrictions.

All of this should concern Beijing, and it needs to consider whether an increasingly unequal and restrictive society, with no scope to be a global citizen, is really the foundation of a strong and modern nation.