ENSURING SAFETY: A traffic policeman checks a school bus driver's license in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province (SHAO SHOUZHI)

Workers' Rights

Companies in the Pearl River Delta region in south China's Guangdong Province, one of the world's largest manufacturing bases, are facing a serious shortage of migrant workers after the Chinese New Year amid rapid economic recovery.

Why are migrant workers reluctant to return?

Today, life in big cities is becoming harder for migrant workers. If they cannot earn enough money to live and have respect, they would rather abandon cities.

A recent document issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council pledges efforts to solve difficulties of the "new generation of migrant workers" who were born in the 1980s or 1990s. This is the first time a central government document mentions the "new generation of migrant workers." It indicates the Central Government has attached greater importance to this issue.

The "new generation of migrant workers" requires more rights, not only basic living standards. They care more about whether the quality of life and their legal rights and interests can be guaranteed.

Behind the shortage of migrant workers, there is a shortage of rights for them. Only when the dignity and rights of labor are guaranteed will shortages of migrant workers disappear.

Chinese Business Morning View

Safety Concerns

China's first compulsory safety regulation on primary school buses, which requires every seat to have a seat belt, will take effect on July 1. Each primary school bus must also be equipped with a monitor to record speed, travel times and distance, according to the regulation recently released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the State Commission for the Administration of Standardization.

The regulation is hoped to help ensure safer transportation for 100 million students. But one of the remaining big problems is that there are still many unlicensed school buses being used.

In 2006 and 2007, ministries of education and public security and the State Administration of Work Safety jointly carried out campaigns to clamp down on unlicensed school buses. But until today, unlicensed school buses are still running on the roads. Why? Many primary schools, mostly schools for children of migrant workers in cities and schools in villages, have no extra money to pay for buses operated by licensed operators.

Therefore, in order to sort out the problem, the government should first guarantee abundant investment in compulsory education schools, calculating and including provision for buses in education expenditures.

Second, all related government departments should extend safety education and inspection to school bus operators.

Obviously, a regulation cannot solve the problem of unlicensed school buses completely. The government should take comprehensive measures to deal with the specific causes why unlicensed school buses are rampant.

The Beijing News

Soccer Wounds

Guangzhou Pharmaceutical F.C. and Chengdu Blades, two of the nation's top soccer league clubs, would be relegated to the second division, the disciplinary committee of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said on February 21.

Also, second-division club Qingdao Hailifeng would be disqualified.

A nationwide crackdown on soccer corruption, gambling and match fixing has been going on for nearly a year since March 2009. We do not doubt the Liaoning provincial police authorities, which are in charge of the operation, has devoted a lot of efforts to it. It is also because of this we do not doubt the police have abundant evidence of soccer corruption, gambling and match fixing.

But until today they have released only the three clubs' match fixing. In fact, three former top CFA officials have been detained by the police for alleged involvement in corruption scandals and now the inside story has become more complicated.

There must still be many other clubs involved in match fixing. If the CFA only punished the three named clubs in order to start the 2010 Chinese Super League season, it will be trapped in a more embarrassing situation.

Guangzhou Daily

Toothless Bans

A February 19 report from Jinan Daily said the government of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, is speeding up reform of official receptions, one of the most-complained-about issues among local residents. The local government also bans government employees from drinking alcohol during work hours.

Placing bans on certain activities is a characteristic of modern China's administrative operations. When problems such as abuse of public funds are raised for settlement, some governments and public institutions often think about "ban" first.

This simple solution, however, confuses the difference between legal and moral issues and brings about a lowering in ethical standards. On the other hand, many of the bans have loopholes. For example, although the government of Jinan imposes a ban on government employees' alcohol drinking during work hour, there are no detailed measures to implement this ban.

What government officials should do when they run into problems is to solve them by law instead of ban.

Yangtze Evening Post