- Rogue aid: Should we fear China’s aid programme? | vox – Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists – The fact that Chinese aid is driven by political and commercial motives is not outstanding in international development cooperation.
- Managing in Asia: China Eyed as Next Educational Frontier; John A. Quelch: China Europe International Business School – WSJ.com – has the rise of the MBA made the world a better place?//
If there was ever a need for business schools in China, it's now.
Breakneck economic growth has far outstripped the supply of management talent. Meanwhile, Chinese companies in both the private and state sectors are responding to government incentives to "Go Out" and compete against the best companies in the world—while juggling fierce competition, rapidly changing technology and shifting macro-economic forces at home.
- In Afghanistan, a Rush to Save Buried Treasure – WSJ.com – Archaeologists are racing to save Afghanistan's cultural heritage before the Chinese start digging on one of the world's most valuable new copper mines
- China rolls out low-cost maglev trains – Xinhua | English.news.cn – A locomotive producer in central China's Hunan province on Friday rolled out a low-cost magnetically levitated (maglev) train that is more environmental-friendly than conventional ones.
The three-carriage train is designed to run at a maximum speed of 100 km per hour and carry 600 passengers, said Xu Zongxiang, general manager of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. Ltd. of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR).
- Property tax cools high-end housing market in Chongqing, making more houses affordable – Xinhua | English.news.cn – "The implementation of the tax restricted the development of the high-level housing market, and then curbed the prices of this kind of housing," said Wen Xing, an official of Chongqing Municipal Land Resources and Housing Administrative Bureau.
The property tax also rationalized the structure of the commercial housing, cutting the rate of large-sized houses and increasing mid- and small-sized houses supplies, thus more ordinary people can now afford a home, Wen said.
Chongqing began to tax all villas as well as new apartments priced at least two times the average price of all newly-built homes last year.
- Chinese army urged to boost advanced military culture – Xinhua | English.news.cn – targeted at corruption?//
China's Central Military Commission (CMC) has issued a guideline on boosting advanced military culture as the urgent need to build the army while maintaining its nature and qualities both ideologically and politically.
- Lady guards train hard in Hainan|Society|chinadaily.com.cn – On Jan 7, 20 swimsuit-clad ladies from Beijing and Guangzhou descended on the tropical beaches of Sanya, Hainan for grueling physical training and a chance at earning a high salary guarding celebrities and executives.
- BBC News – Newsnight – Chinese ambassador on China’s 21st Century role – In his first British TV interview the Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, talks to Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman about the nature of modern China and the global role it has to play, says you can't call china a "communist country" but can call it a "socialist country"
- China Signals Caution on Loosening as PBOC Confounds Analysts – Bloomberg – China (CNGDPYOY) signaled caution toward more monetary loosening by holding off on a reduction in bank reserve requirements that some economists had predicted would come before a week-long holiday ending Jan. 28.
Barclays Capital Asia Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Industrial Bank Co. said this month that ratios were likely to fall ahead of the Lunar New Year festival, which boosts demand for cash. The central bank instead used reverse-repurchase contracts to add money to the financial system. - Solitary confinement is a torture unworthy of U.S. prisons – The Washington Post – Sidney Rittenberg Sr. is co-author, with Amanda Bennett, of “The Man Who Stayed Behind.” He was jailed twice by Mao Zedong, from 1949 to 1955 and from 1968 to 1977, on charges of being an American spy.
- A Dragon’s Tale | Nomadically Curious Visual Thoughts – great video of chinese new year in beijing..background music a little annoying though, esp over fireworks
- Rethinking The Oreo For Chinese Consumers : Planet Money : NPR – Everyone knows what an Oreo cookie is supposed to be like. It's round, black and white, and intensely sweet. Has been for 100 years. But sometimes, in order to succeed in the world, even the most iconic product has to adapt.
In China, that meant totally reconsidering what gives an Oreo its Oreoness.
- The China Greentech Initiative | China Greentech Initiative –
- 汉代玉凳拍出2.2亿引洗钱嫌疑_新浪收藏_新浪网 –
- 韩寒 VS 方舟子 | 新浪微博-随时随地分享身边的新鲜事儿 – 质疑韩寒代笔事件继续升级，第一波以麦田公开道歉告终后，@方舟子跟进质疑则使此事引发更多博友激辩。韩寒本人也已就此事多次发布博文（韩寒博客）回应，并找出当年作品原稿分享。微博热议持续升温，韩、方两派支持者就在论战中度过了龙年春节。韩寒29日最新博文称“法院年初七才开门”，“闹剧大幕”即将落下。韩寒合作伙伴、出版人@路金波透露韩寒已委托律师诉方舟子名誉侵权（详细）。@方舟子已发博文回应，称本人不会出庭。你支持谁呢？
- China at Another Critical Reform Juncture-Caijing Cover – China has made immense progress during its 30 years of reform and opening-up,but the nation is also confronted with a number of severe problems.
- GreenTown in Talks to Cash in Four Projects-Caijing – Greentown China Holdings is in talks with potential buyers to sell four of its projects for 6 billion yuan of cash, according to Hong Kong media.
The four projects are an office building in Shanghai, a commercial project for local auditing bureau in Qingdao, a square in Wenzhou and Beijing’s Oakwood Apartment, UBS quoted senior executives in Greentown as saying. - 梁思成故居建设单位不认可违规拆除说法-《财经网》 – 实施拆除工作的建设单位华润集团北京公司竟称对是否属“违规拆除”保留意见
- 北京一9岁男自乘坐商场扶梯意外被卡身亡-《财经网》 –
- The Associated Press: 29 Chinese missing after militant attack in Sudan – Militants apparently captured 29 Chinese workers after attacking a remote worksite in a volatile region of Sudan, and Sudanese forces were increasing security for Chinese projects and personnel there, China said Sunday.
- IMF Reviewing Whether Yuan Still ‘Substantially Undervalued’ – WSJ.com – he International Monetary Fund is reviewing whether China's currency should still be considered "substantially undervalued," as the yuan has appreciated more than 8% in the last year and the fund is developing a new method of assessing global currencies.
- GPS Devices Are Being Used to Track Cars and Errant Spouses – NYTimes.com –
- Panetta Credits Pakistani Doctor in Bin Laden Raid – NYTimes.com – Mr. Panetta is the first American official to publicly confirm that a Pakistani doctor imprisoned by Pakistan’s intelligence service in the days after the Bin Laden raid had been working for the C.I.A., collecting intelligence in Abbottabad.
American officials have said that the doctor, Shikal Afridi, had been running a phony hepatitis B vaccination program as a ruse to obtain DNA evidence from members of Bin Laden’s family, who were thought to be holed up in the Abbottabad compound.
- 探照网络舆情监测：政府部门成主要客户来源_中国经济网??国家经济门户 – 2012年1月7日，山西省疾控中心科员王烨连续五年“吃空饷”累积10余万元的新闻被曝光，引发网民的大量关注。同时，这条信息也开始进入网络舆情监测者的视线，成为他们用来分析的典型案例之一。
这些网络舆情监测机构，利用网络舆情监测软件，动态监测网民对此事的帖子、评论转发等情况，从而绘制出一份每日该事件网民关注度的折线图。
- Does the renminbi matter? Evidence from China’s disaggregated processed exports | vox – Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists – The results suggest that appreciations of the integrated exchange rate cause large drops in both processing-and-assembly and processing-with-imported-materials exports (see Thorbecke 2012 for details). In the case of processing-and-assembly exports, this response is driven entirely by exchange-rate changes in supply chain countries. In the case of processing-with-imported-materials exports, this response is caused both by changes in the renminbi and by changes in suppliers’ exchange rates. Changes in the renminbi also have a larger effect than changes in suppliers’ exchange rates on processing-with-imported-materials exports. Because processing-with-imported-materials exports are now six times the value of processing-and-assembly exports, these results indicate that the renminbi matters for aggregate processed exports.
Policy implications
Since exchange rates in both China and East Asian supply-chain countries affect processing trade, it is puzzling that there is so little discussion between policymakers in the region on exchange-rate issues. This lack of official interaction contrasts with the intensive private-sector integration occurring within regional production networks. A useful first step would be for East Asian government officials to begin a dialogue on exchange-rate issues. This discussion could be undertaken by specialists behind closed doors. Hopefully these behind-the-scenes interactions could point to opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation on exchange-rate issues. - 大公报－「學者」政客怎做學術研究？ – 港大「民意研究計劃」主任鍾庭耀日前發表市民認同「香港人」身份遠多於「中國人」身份的「民調」結果，中聯辦宣傳文體部部長郝鐵川指出該命題取向不確，香港人中國人身份不能分割、更不能「二擇其一」。
郝言一齣，立即引來少數反對派人士「幹預學術自由」、「政治打壓」的指責。事件在市民中引起較大關注。
- Chinese veteran female stars’ pictures without photoshop – Xinhua | English.news.cn –
- Holiday firecrackers kill 1, injure 200 in Beijing – Xinhua | English.news.cn – (Xinhua) — Firecrackers lit by Beijing residents to celebrate the Chinese new year killed one person and injured more than 200 others in the Chinese capital during the past seven-day holiday, the government reported Saturday.
The holiday firecracker casualties this year, however, were down nearly 50 percent from a year earlier, according to the municipal health bureau.
- Five myths about China’s power – The Washington Post – Minxin Pei…
- About 150 arrested in daylong Occupy Oakland protests; police say some broke into City Hall – The Washington Post –
- In Luang Prabang, Laos, Lao New Year is drenched in color — and water – The Washington Post –
- Fireworks send Beijing air pollution soaring – Yahoo! News – Clouds of smoke from Lunar New Year fireworks sent air pollution in Beijing soaring under a new more sensitive measurement system.
Readings of fine particulate matter called PM2.5 were about 100 times worse on the Jan. 22 eve of the holiday than the amount considered good for 24-hour exposure, the city's environmental bureau said. - AFP: China should punish Philippines over US offer: report – sure looks like China is interfering in the Philippines' internal affairs//
China should impose "sanctions" against the Philippines after it offered to allow more US troops on its soil, state media said Sunday, amid growing tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Manila said Friday it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more US troops rotate through the Southeast Asian country — an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia. - 韩寒起诉方舟子索赔10万元_网易新闻中心 – han han sues fang zhouzi for damaging his reputation, asks for 100,000 rmb compensation
- For CIA family, a deadly suicide bombing leads to painful divisions – The Washington Post – Jennifer Matthews was on assignment in Afghanistan in 2009 when a suicide bomber killed her and six other CIA operatives. Now, her relatives break their silence on how her death affected them.
- Light to be shed on mystery of MI6 spy Gareth Williams’ death – Telegraph – Mr Williams, a brilliant mathematician who took a degree course at Bangor university while in his early teens, had been seconded from GCHQ – the government's listening centre in Cheltenham – to MI6, to work on top-secret computer systems to detect and prevent cyber-attacks on Britain's banks and infrastructure and eavesdrop on terrorist communications.
At the time of his death he was understood to be researching British vulnerability to Russian, Turkish and Chinese gangs – any one of them capable of targeting him. - 北京东城区称将查处违规拆除梁林故居行为_新闻中心_新浪网 –
- Chinese Crack Down to Curb Spread of Tibetan Unrest – NYTimes.com – CHENGDU, China — This regional metropolis is roughly 200 miles from the wave of protest by ethnic Tibetans that is sweeping the towering mountains of western Sichuan Province. But take a stroll through Chengdu’s Tibetan quarter, and the tensions generated by the distant unrest become palpable.
- Famous traditional courtyard bulldozed – People’s Daily Online – BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) — In the 1950s, his plan to prevent modern development in the ancient city of Beijing was nipped.
Three decades after his death, famous architect Liang Sicheng's former courtyard home in downtown Chinese capital met the same fate.
Liang's "siheyuan," the traditional courtyard home, was reportedly bulldozed by a real estate developer on Thursday in the name of preservation.
The former rectangle brick structure in Beizongbu hutong where Liang and his also architect wife Lin Huiyin (Phyllis Lin) resided and started the unprecedented profiling of ancient Chinese architecture during the 1930s was reduced to piles of rubble surrounding a lone wooden gate.
The government said Saturday that the demolition was not approved by the cultural heritage authorities and officials would investigate and deal with the case in accordance of the law.
- Tiger Mom Meet Sunzi Dad? | Sinocism – latest post by yours truly
- 人民网评：重塑网络社会 涵养良性心态-搜狐IT –
- Glitzy new AU headquarters a symbol of China-Africa ties – Yahoo! News – Standing on what was once Ethiopia's oldest maximum security prison, the new African Union headquarters funded by China is a symbol of the Asian giant's push to stay ahead in Africa and gain greater access to the continent's resources.
- Second giant panda taken off display after being diagnosed with colic – Telegraph – british food…//
Both giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo have been removed from public display after coming down with colic, just weeks after their much-anticipated arrival.
