Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-02

In employment their local stats
and forced to remit large
amounts Of foreign exchange to
meet their overheads in doing so.
Taxation on company profits,
strangely enough, is not unduly
high. The scale rises to about
"a per cent. But the snag is in
the method Of assessment. For
example. while no foreigner may
own land in China, foreign firms
are obliged to pay enormous land
taxes on premises occupied.
Heavy Tax Penalties.
A delicate feature about the
Communist tax structure is that
If taxes are not met, q fine Of
half Of per cent per day, COM
pound interest. is levied until
they are.
Such taxation. however. Is also
inflicted upon Chinese-owned
firms. If nothing else, this has
at least contributed to stabiliz-
ing the present currency. Black
marketing in foreign currencies.
once a feature Of Shanghai, has
been eliminated by the drastic
penalties in1posed-up to and in
Guiding death.
Squeeze" once an accepted
feature of Chinese life, also has
vanished. Today's officials are
scrupulously honest. But it has
to be faced that along with cor
ruptlon has gone trade.
Since the liberation" In 1949
every Chinese has been required
to join a union. Not only this,
he or she must attend meetings
several times a week to undergo
"brainwashing" indoctrination in
Communist theory. Pictures of
big brother" Mao gaze down
from every factory and Office
wall.
Emphasis is placed on physical
culture. Not only are school
children put through their phys
ical exercises every day, but
workers in all government fac
tories and Offices are required to
go through the same perform
ance.
It is said the Chinese face Is
expreSsionless, but having
watched a middle-aged clerk do
ing his bend-and-stretch at the
appointed hour. I can assure you
that this is not so!
Russian Second Language.
Another aspect Of the all-per-
vading propaganda, to which q
nation of 900 million is being
subjected, has been the banning
of American and other Western
movie shows. Russian movies,
and sometimes very good ones,
are shown everywhere instead.
Russian also is the compulsory
second language in Chinese
schools today. having taken the
place Of English.
Yet. paradoxically. Western
style dancing is increasingly
popular. as is jazz music. Dance
halls, though expensive, are
popular with new China's youth
and well patronized. Some &C.
cupy the premises of prewar
fashionable night clubs.
In matters of dress there have
been some changes recently. The
drab blue peoples uniform" OF
high-neck tunics and baggy
pants, topped by a little peaked
cap is generally worn by both
sexes. But on high days and
holidays the tendency now ap-
pears to be to wear more relaxed
and colorful clothes-Western-
cut rather than traditional Chi
nese being favored.
Traditional Theater.
There has been no change,
however, in the traditional Chi
nese theater. Foreign devotees
incidentally. continue to attend
these performances-particularly
the famous Shao Shing opera.
AS in all Communist countries,
there is great emphasis on youth
The various festivals are made
the occasion of mammoth
youth rallies. Hundreds of thou
sands turn out, and all traffic is
stopped as professions tour
Shanghai's streets, winding up
at the old race course for
speeches and music.
1t is hard to say what the re-
action Of the average Chinese is
to all this. The young seem to
enjoy it, although I have noticed
that at the end of a big rally
day many look very tired and
need to take the following day
off to recover.