The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

The hot topics this time are not only about stimulating the economy, but also about medical care, education, etc.

In terms of medical care, China has currently built a relatively well-developed medical system that covers all regions of the country. Every village has a clinic, every town has a town health center, every county has a county hospital, every city has at least one or three-level municipal hospital, and every province has a provincial hospital with a relatively high comprehensive level.

The traditional Chinese medicine system and the Western medicine system coexist and develop at the same time.

Even after centralized procurement, drug costs have dropped significantly, and the prices of some imported special-effect drugs have dropped significantly, but there is still the problem of medical treatment becoming increasingly expensive!
Some hospitals have low medical ethics and prescribe medicines and examination orders indiscriminately, often ordering CT and MRI examinations.

These phenomena have been criticized a lot, and even calls for reforms to the medical system have been growing.

There is still a long way to go in medical reform!
In terms of rural medical insurance, although it has covered rural areas across the country, there is a capped amount limit on medical insurance, and any excess must be paid out of pocket, which makes it unaffordable for many low-income people.

Some representatives even proposed implementing a free medical system!

However, the free medical system faces many problems.

You know, sometimes free is the most expensive, and this has been verified in many foreign countries.

Moreover, given China's current national conditions, if a free medical system were implemented, many elderly people would probably go to the hospital immediately and stay there permanently.

Some people may think it’s an exaggeration, but it’s the truth!

There is also the efficiency issue, which will definitely make people complain.

In this regard, China has a testing ground, and that testing ground is Hong Kong!
The medical systems in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are different and they are all test samples.

In Hong Kong, public hospitals provide free medical care, but the result is very long waiting times, which forced Hong Kong to carry out medical reforms and learn from Macau to provide a certain degree of free medical services.

In Macau, the medical system is also divided into public hospitals and private medical institutions. In public hospitals, Macau residents can enjoy a certain degree of free medical services, including but not limited to emergency, specialist outpatient, hospitalization services, auxiliary examinations, etc. For example, specific groups such as the elderly over 65 years old, children, primary and secondary school students, pregnant women and mothers can enjoy free hospital medical services. However, even in public hospitals, there are cases where some services need to be paid. For example, other residents other than some specific people need to pay a certain proportion of medical expenses when using hospital specialist medical services.

Private medical institutions account for a relatively large proportion, and the medical services provided by these institutions are usually charged and the fees are relatively high. Even in Macau, residents often purchase private medical insurance to obtain a wider range of medical services and a higher level of protection.

Taiwan also does not provide completely free medical care, but implements a universal health insurance system, where everyone has to pay for health insurance, and the amount of health insurance is determined by personal income. Although health insurance can cover part of the medical expenses, there are still some out-of-pocket expenses, such as registration fees, some drug costs, and food expenses during hospitalization.

The mainland is also constantly exploring medical reforms, trying to find a path that is suitable for the mainland.

The country is not not researching free medical care.

Ordinary people may think of free medical care as everything from colds to terminal illnesses is free, with no queues or waiting, ICU admission at any time, comprehensive examinations at any time, and consultations for patients by many experts.

But in reality, most free medical care around the world requires you to make an appointment first when you are sick. It is not certain when it will be your turn. Minor illnesses will most likely heal on their own. For major illnesses, if you don’t want to wait to die, you’d better spend money to find a private hospital!

This kind of free medical care is obviously not suitable for the mainland.

After all, the mainland has always adhered to the principle of putting the people first and serving the people!

If it is really implemented for free like in other countries, I guess most of the people will jump up and down and curse.

There is also education, which is also a hot topic at the two sessions over the years.

Over the past thirty years, China has made tremendous achievements in education as a whole.

In terms of basic education, almost everyone can now enjoy nine years of compulsory education and at least obtain a junior high school degree. Even in remote mountainous areas, there are schools for children in mountainous areas to study.

In the past, there were not enough schools in cities, making it difficult to go to school. However, as cities continued to build more schools, this problem has been greatly alleviated.

The college entrance examination is still the fairest exam in the world. Except for a few universities that have obtained special recruitment qualifications, most universities have to admit students honestly through the college entrance examination. Even the few universities that have obtained special recruitment qualifications are also cautious in special recruitment because there are countless eyes watching.

However, in terms of further talent training, China still has some gap compared with Europe and the United States.

After all, China has too little time in this regard.

Even if we attract some qualified scholars to Chinese universities, it is still not enough, as there will inevitably be a lack of foundation.

China is very cautious and strict in offering master's and doctoral programs. So far, the value of master's and doctoral degrees is still relatively high.

There has always been a voice in society calling for the implementation of 12 years of compulsory education, which means including high school in the scope of compulsory education.

Every year, there are always rumors that the high school entrance exam will be cancelled, high school will be incorporated into compulsory education, and 12 years of compulsory education will be implemented. Every time this news comes out, I don’t know how many parents cheer and wish that the high school entrance exam would be cancelled immediately.

However, the implementation of 12-year compulsory education also faces many problems. First, extending compulsory education requires a large amount of investment, which puts great financial pressure on the current situation. In addition, there are significant differences between high school education and compulsory education in terms of training objectives and curriculum settings, which require careful research and demonstration.

In fact, in life, it is common to find that some people just don't like to study. They like to be distracted, play truant, and sleep in class, and their academic performance is a mess. Even if they can't go to high school after the junior high school entrance examination, they can go to vocational schools. However, generally no one in vocational schools across the country likes to study and take the college entrance examination. At present, vocational schools are relatively well run, and they generally teach chefs, barbers, car drivers, crane drivers, car repairs, etc.

These can also be passed on to students so that they can have a skill when they go out to work.

But most of the time it is a mess, with all kinds of chaos.

Some people also say that the high school entrance examination is the culprit of exam-oriented education, and canceling the high school entrance examination can give children a happy childhood. But is this really the case?
In the compulsory education stage, "burden reduction" is an eternal topic. But can the pressure really be solved by canceling an exam?

It’s not that simple at all!
Although the unified examination has its drawbacks, it at least gives children from different regions and backgrounds a relatively fair opportunity. If it is changed to other selection methods, it will inevitably exacerbate educational inequality!
There are already examples of this overseas.

If ordinary people believe the opinions of some experts and think that they can go to college, or a good college, if their exemption is cancelled, then they are really stupid and naive!

Why do some wealthy families send their children to study abroad?
It is definitely not because their children are geniuses and have good academic performance, but simply because most people cannot go to a prestigious university or even an undergraduate university if they pass the college entrance examination, so they have to spend money to study abroad. Why have sea turtles become less and less popular in recent years?
There is no other reason, it’s just that real gold is not afraid of fire, the turtle’s filter has disappeared!

Liu Tao did not accept any interviews on education-related topics during the Two Sessions.

What China needs is a more scientific and comprehensive evaluation system that can both reduce students' excessive test pressure and promote their all-round development. This requires a systematic reform of the education system, which cannot be achieved overnight.

Education requires foresight and patience.

Education is related to national development and the future of the nation, and requires foresight and overall planning. Any reform cannot be rushed, and must be based on national conditions, clarify the pros and cons, and advance steadily.

Just like the schools in the Panshan Group system, from kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, high schools to universities, it has never stopped reforming. Many suggestions now are simply not feasible.

In fact, there are test samples for various situations, and we are constantly summarizing them, so it is very clear whether they work or not!
Just like the society doesn’t know it yet, but the schools in the Panshan Group system have been exploring the diversion of vocational high schools for several years. This is also an exploration of the diversion of vocational high schools.

Of course, in addition to medical care and education, energy conservation and emission reduction is also a major hot topic.

This is also related to responding to climate change. From the beginning, all regions and departments have been required to earnestly implement the above decisions and arrangements, take energy conservation and emission reduction as an important means to adjust the economic structure and transform the development model, and comprehensively use legal, economic, technical and necessary administrative measures to increase efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction, and the progress is still considerable.

The same is true for environmental protection. Whether it is air pollution, solid pollution, or water pollution, the country has invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to control it in recent years.

Ecological development is receiving more and more attention.

Sustainable development has become a consensus among people.

Just as China was entering the Two Sessions, although no war broke out in Europe, there were some turmoil.

Since the US rating agency downgraded Greece's sovereign rating, Greece and other countries have fallen into crisis one after another, and the entire European Union has been in debt crisis. As the leading countries in the euro zone, such as Germany, began to feel the impact of the crisis, the euro fell sharply, and the European stock market plummeted. The entire euro zone is facing the most severe test since its establishment, which is even greater than the Kosovo War.

There has been a lot of sarcastic commentators in the United States, speculating that the eurozone will eventually disintegrate.

Greece and other countries have each proposed how many billion euros they need to overcome the crisis, but other countries have been slow to reach a consensus on this issue.

At this time, Standard & Poor's of the United States downgraded the sovereign ratings of several EU countries to "junk level", and the crisis further escalated.

The Americans' actions have angered countries such as France and Germany. After all, this action is sinister and is intended to dismantle the European Union.

In recent years, Americans have been using a lot of shady tricks.

It just so happens that Americans have a great influence in Europe and have several allies.

Look, the voices about Brexit in the UK are louder than ever before.

There is even a politician in the UK who has publicly stated that if he wins the general election scheduled for May 2010, he will approve a referendum on Brexit within a year.

And his poll ratings have risen sharply.

This made the EU even more angry, and it criticized the UK, believing that the UK's move was irresponsible.

You know, joining the EU is not easy, and leaving the EU is not easy either.

At stake here are core issues such as 'breakup fees', civil rights and borders.

Although the EU is now dominated by the Franco-German alliance, and even the Franco-German rapid reaction force has in fact replaced some of NATO's functions, France and Germany are also tacitly isolating Britain.

But the UK remains an important country in the EU, second only to France and Germany.

Britain, the troublemaker in Europe, stabbed Europe at a critical moment, and this blow was heartbreaking.

However, after mobilization and military expansion, Britain already has the most powerful military force in Europe. Whether it is the navy, air force or army, Britain is now the strongest among European countries, even stronger than France and Germany.

Before this, European countries were watching the show, believing that Britain would definitely launch a second Falklands War to safeguard Britain's status and dignity.

Unexpectedly, Britain made a huge fuss, purchased military funds on a large scale, expanded its military, withdrew its troops from the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq, and acted as if it was determined to fight the Falklands War. Even now, British television and media will occasionally report on the preparations of the British Expeditionary Force and predict when it will set out for South America.

But in fact, Britain is only focused on fighting a war of public opinion, and there is no sign of the British army going on an expedition.

Liu Tao also did not expect that the British and Americans would cooperate so well. With this stab, the entire European Union can be said to be facing a huge crisis, and the entire euro zone is really in danger of disintegration.

Facing such a crisis will test the wisdom of politicians in Germany, France and other countries!
Previously, the EU's large-scale eastward expansion expanded the EU from 15 countries to 25 countries, which was a great success. But now it is experiencing the pain of taking too big a step and getting hurt.

At the beginning, the 15 EU countries were all relatively developed countries, with similar national interests and economic development. There were differences at that time, but they were not too big.

But later, after the eastward expansion, as the number of countries increased, there were more opinions and differences.

You have to know that many of these countries are America’s little brothers and were supported by the Americans.

The United States does not want to see the unification of Europe at all. If Europe completes the great unification, the United States will have no excuse to keep its troops stationed in Europe and will also be driven out.

After all, the current European Union is just an international organization, not a federal state. It also has many ethnic groups but no dominant ethnic group, and is a loose sand!
Look at the European Union today. There are 24 official languages ​​and more than 20 ethnic groups. There have been many conflicts and deaths among so many ethnic groups in the past.

In the past, Russia had tried to join NATO and the EU many times, but was rejected. Later, when the Franco-German alliance was about to evolve into the Franco-German-Russian alliance, something unexpected happened again, and the rift between the two sides became wider and wider. (End of this chapter)