As population ages, young square off against old in public spaces

(Photo: Chengdu.cn)

With birth rates declining, the elderly represent a growing part of the population, and their demands are also growing. On a wide range of issues, from the etiquette of giving up seats on the bus, right through to dancing in public squares, the young and the old often have vastly differing views on what constitutes moral behavior, with both pointing the finger at the other for transgressions - be they imagined or with very real repercussions.

According to traditional views, when elderly people enter the bus or subway, young people should yield their seats to them. As the population ages, this has often become less of an expectation and more of a demand.

But it's not always that simple - for example, in July, netizens found themselves unsure about who was right after an old lady in Chongqing gave her seat to her 16-year-old grandson and asked a student to give up her seat so the old lady could also sit. When the student didn't do so, the old lady reprimanded her and said she was being disrespectful.

These cases can be even more extreme. In a more recent incident on September 9, a senior citizen had disputes with a young person over who should get a seat on a bus in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. After the old man slapped the young man's face four times, he had a heart attack on the bus and died.

The incident generated widespread controversy as people argued online over whose fault it was. More importantly, these incidents highlighted how conflicts between the young and old are on the rise in China, with arguments from both sides that the other lacks moral standing.

Seat salvos

The inter-generational conflict has created some unusual battlegrounds, with locations like city buses and town squares being common theaters of war.

Among the key questions - are the young always obligated to give up their bus or subway seats to the rising number of elderly?

Frank Zhu, a 26-year-old stock market analyst in Nanjing, told the Global Times that even though the issue never really bothered him years ago, he now usually sits in the back of the bus to avoid being seen or being forced to give up his seat.

"If you don't give up your seat, the old people will stare at you, as if you have done something wrong," he said. He's afraid of what actions the old people might take, he said, and thinks the trust between the old and young people in China has been broken ever since the Peng Yu incident, especially for residents in Nanjing.

At the end of 2006, a young man, Peng Yu, was sued by an old lady for crashing into her and breaking some of her bones. Even though the court recognized it was not anyone's fault, it ruled he should pay about 45,876 yuan ($7,468) worth of medical bills.

Many believe that Peng was trying to help the old woman, but was taken advantage of, and were outraged at the judge's ruling.

The case was a turning point in the relationship between the young and the old generations in China. Since the incident, many have reported that they saw elderly people falling on the streets and didn't dare help them up. At the same time, the number of reports about conflicts between young and old people have increased.

Some have wondered whether the moral standards of young people are declining. The recent incident in Zhengzhou prompted many people to respond.

"When I get old, I won't slap someone because he didn't give up his seat for me. When I become poor, I won't get angry because others didn't donate to me," one post on Weibo read.

"Some people might say the young have to give up their seats for the old, but I'm sorry, that's not in the law. I thought everybody wanted to have a legal society," read another post.

Zhang Yusheng, an independent commentator, told the Yangcheng Evening News that saying the young man was immoral is wrong.

"Everybody bought a ticket to come on the bus, so every passenger has an equal right and need for the seat, and nobody needs to 'give up' his or her seat for anyone else," he said. "Giving up the seat is something people do on the basis of compassion, not a legal duty every citizen needs to perform."