Last April 20 China Global Times officially launched its English edition and new web portal, www.globaltimes.cn, giving the world a new source to understand China. For China, the new English edition is one more channel to deliver its voice to the world. The other English publication is China Daily: www.chinadaily.com.cn
What is interesting is that this new magazine usually touches some taboo questions. This is an example (summarized):--------------------------------------------------------------
Wealthy second generation poor in belief
By Li Xiangping
In Chinese temples and churches, the most generous donors are usually middle-aged millionaires and billionaires. They attract attention for their large donations and apparent enthusiasm for religion. However, it is noteworthy that their children, known as “the wealthy second generation,” are gaining a reputation for being rude, haughty black sheep.
Most are rich enough to attend exclusive schools, but apparently neither their parents' religion nor their education has had a positive impact on them.
Complex factors have led to this phenomenon. Compared with their parents, these children lack religious belief and have not been influenced strongly by it.
Since religious life has not fully developed in today's Chinese society, most religious organizations haven't performed regular charity work, and only hold charity events when there is some kind of disaster.
This is a missed opportunity for religion to play a positive role in guiding morality in our everyday life.
Though China has hundreds of millions of believers in various religions, their religious lives rarely appear in the mainstream public's view. One reason is that they do not have adequate space in which to express themselves. Another reason is that more and more believers regard faith as a private matter.
Generally, family is the primary place where religious ideals are spread. But this hardly ever seems to happen in wealthy families, which use religion to bless their wealth and reduce their anxiety, but not to pursue spiritual fulfillment.
The older generation may have set a bad example for their children. Since their wealth was based on the first bucket of gold from the reform and opening-up, the youngsters in all likelihood witnessed some foul means of getting rich. This would contribute to their lack of morality.
Long-term questions remain. Will the second generation of the wealthy integrate into the larger community? If they are spiritually empty but materially wealthy, how will they impact society?
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