Last day of kindergarten for my kids, field day this morning, so no commentary. How time flies…

If you understand Chinese I highly recommend this Youku video of a Hunan TV anchor going on an epic rant about the lunacy of the Gaokao test system and, by extension, the inequality of contemporary China. As I am writing this it has already been retweeted 190,000+ times and commented on 30,000+ times on Sina Weibo. The anchor is now a superstar, though he may also be in trouble.

If you are in China you should now be able to access Sinocism here, though only if you have a Chinese IP address, i.e. not through a VPN or proxy. The link may show an error message if your IP address is outside of China.

The best way to read this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still mostly blocked by the GFW. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions/donations are welcome, and feel free to forward/recommend to friends. Thanks for reading.

• Nokia to Stay Focused in China – WSJ.com
  “The company has made a decision to continue investing heavily in Asia in terms of product development,” Olivier Puech, the president of Nokia’s Asia-Pacific operations, said in an interview Wednesday. “We will not compromise our commitment to China,” he said on the sidelines of the Mobile Asia Expo, which opened in Shanghai.
• Chinese film struggles with online video-film business asia
  In an admission that could alarm the shareholders of his NASDAQ-listed company, Victor Koo (古永鏘), CEO of online video group Youku Inc 優酷, said that there is no stable business model for online video in China.
• 房价上涨力量博弈：货币宽松与地方微调推手|房价|上涨|力量_21世纪网
  on the increasingly public debate over whether or not to loosen real estate controls
• The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone
  How America’s biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy – until they were caught on tape
• Baidu: Oppenheimer Warms to Stock, but Cautious About Mobile – Tech Trader Daily – Barrons.com
  Oppenheimer & Co.’s Andy Yeung this morning reiterates a “Perform” rating on shares of Chinese search engine giant Baidu (BIDU), writing that while the stock has an “increasingly attractive valuation,” he’s concerned about how the company will “navigate” the “transition” he sees this year, meaning its challenge to monetize mobile use of the Internet.
• China’s Mystery Machete Man Sets Off a Porn Firestorm – Bloomberg
• Video: Chinese Helo Barely Makes Landing at Sea | Defense Tech
  I’ve seen some rough-looking landings of helicopters at sea but this one takes first prize. It shows a Chinese navy Kamaov Ka-28 nearly crashing onto the stern of what looks like a Type 54 frigate while attempting to land in rough seas.
• Senior Chinese Buddhist renounces his vows for love – Telegraph
  Qing Xian, who is thought to be in his 40s, shocked his fellow monks by handing in his resignation from the monastery on June 9.
  He married his sweetheart, named only as Ms Yan, three days ago at the Grand View Hotel in the western city of Kunming.
  Mr Qing had lived in the Qiongzhu temple in Kunming for 20 to 25 years, according to his fellow monks, after being sent there as a young man by his mother.
• Top PLA officers must report assets | SCMP.com
  Move was initiated by Hu Jintao and is consistent with his efforts to expose and combat corruption
• What Exactly Does It Mean to Be Sina Weibo’s “VIP”? | Tea Leaf Nation
• A manic-depressive day in the Chinese internet media: Aquino’s threat, Vietnam’s law, and China’s Three Sands City « southseaconversations 讨论南海
• Asia a Key Battleground in Epic ‘Game of Phones’ [INFOGRAPHIC] – Tech in Asia
  two of the top three countries for iOS downloads are now Asian, with the USA out front with 28 percent, but followed by China and Japan with 18 and 7 percent respectively
• 高考天问！！！ 120611 钟山说事 – 视频 – 优酷视频 – 在线观看
  Hunan TV anchor goes on an epic rant against the annual Gaokao test system. Taking weibo by storm. he is now a superstar, wonder if he will get into trouble
• Big Brother is watching Facebook and Twitter – New Scientist – New Scientist
• China’s Ecommerce Sector Braces for Consolidation | PandoDaily
  A quarter of all apparel sold in China this year was sold online, he said. In five years, ecommerce will account for 10 percent of all retail sales. Consumer demand for online shopping is soaring, especially in second, third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities, where the brick-and-mortar retail sector is underdeveloped.
  Today, China has about 193 million online shoppers, and by 2015, they’ll be spending $1,000 each per year, as much as Americans do today. Certainly, there is certainly gold in them there hills. But for most companies, it’s going to be a hell of a climb to get to it.
• 廉政风暴已刮起 依法强政治吏成十八大主调_多维新闻网
  duowei says more than 300 officials in guangzhou and shenzhen under investigation for corruption, cleanup campaign also launched in other provinces//
  【多维新闻】多维新闻在《广东廉政风暴来袭 数百官员被双规》已独家披露，广东省正经历一场罕见的反腐风暴，目前广州、深圳两市就有超过300名官员已被双规，而这还只是第一波。实际上，不仅在广东，山东、湖南、山西等多地整肃行动均已全面展开。
• China: more manufacturing weakness as Flash PMI falls again | beyondbrics
  China’s factories are still under real and increasing pressure, according to the latest HSBC Flash PMI. The index fell from 48.4 in May to 48.1 in June – the lowest since last year.
  Contraction accelerated in a number of sub-indexes, including new orders, new exports orders and overall output.
• China party shuffle begins ahead of leadership change | Reuters
  Guo Jinlong, A political ally of Chinese President Hu Jintao is the front-runner to become the Communist Party boss of Beijing, two independent sources said, allowing Hu to retain some political influence after he leaves office.
• How Much Do I Loathe You? Japan and China Count the Ways in Survey – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  if there’s one thing the Asian giants can agree on it’s their mutual distaste for each other, according to new survey results.
• Hu Shuli–Rewriting the Social Code – Caixin Online
  scholar Liang Qichao’s thoughts on civic and private morals are instructive. He said private morals are concerned only with the good of one’s self, while civic morals demand people strive for the good of others. “Morals in China can be said to have been developed from an early age, but these morals are private virtues, while civic virtues are lacking,” he said.
  As China increasingly becomes a contract-based society, it must not only hold on to its private morals, but also develop civic ethics. For too long, this has been missing in Chinese cultural tradition.
  So it’s painful to see that today’s China not only lacks civic ethics, but its private virtues are also being somewhat eroded.
• China to allow private investment in utilities: Xinhua | Reuters
  China will open up its public utilities to private investment as part of the current privatization drive to bolster economic growth, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
• Wenzhou Aims to Remake Chinese Finance: Who Wants to Help? – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  After generations operating in the shadows of China’s financial system, providing credit to places the state-owned banks ignored, underground lenders in the coastal city of Wenzhou are finally going legit.
• China says Vietnam claim to islands null and void | Reuters
  Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo told Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily website on Thursday that China was well able to fight back in case of any provocation.
  “Our navy has the absolute ability and the absolute confidence to use arms to defend our country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and maritime rights … We’re just waiting for the order,” he said.
• Guangdong graft crackdown affects hundreds of officials: Duowei｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  Two senior officials from southern China’s Guangdong province are undergoing investigation by the Communist Party due to “discipline violations,” reports Duowei News, an online news outlet run by overseas Chinese. The news outlet also said that more than 300 local officials have been placed under “double regulation” on suspicion of corruption
• Self-censoring Siri? Chinese version won’t discuss Tiananmen｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  Apple needs to clarify this//
  As it will even not answer questions about how to get to the massive square in the center of Beijing, they suspect Siri is employing self-censorship to enter the Chinese market, according to Duowei News, a Chinese-language media outlet based in New York run by overseas Chinese.
• Taiwanese scholar, officer indicted for jeopardizing national security｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  Prosecutors said that in 2010, at Zhang’s request, Wu helped collect information on Chinese scholar and democracy advocate Cui Weiping and her movements during a visit she made to T
• Corruption in Chinese Soccer : The New Yorker
  At its core, the problem is philosophical: the Chinese Football Association operates the professional leagues, but it is also the body that supervises itself and investigates wrongdoing. The association has assembled what it calls an “independent professional league council” to chart a way forward. But until Chinese soccer gets anything like a system of checks and balances, its cries of reform are unlikely to convince the crowd.
• China summons Vietnam’s ambassador to protest Vietnamese law of sea – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  The Vietnamese law of the sea infringed China’s territory sovereignty by putting China’s Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands under Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdiction, according to the representation.
• China raises administrative status of South China Sea islands – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  The Chinese government has raised the administrative status of Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea from county-level to prefectural-level, according to a Thursday statement.The State Council, or China’s cabinet, has approved the establishment of the prefectural-level city of Sansha to administer the three island groups and their surrounding waters, while the government seat will be stationed on Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands, according to a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
• Democratic elections can’t do miracles – China Media Project
  Yesterday, the Global Times again stepped directly into online controversy by running a piece by Zheng Ruolin (郑若麟), the European correspondent for Shanghai’s Wenhui Bao, arguing that China is already “in the orbit of democratic nations.” Zheng argued essentially that while “a number of scholars” have completely overblown the role of elections in democracies, elevating elections to a kind of holy standard, elections are not the be all and the end all.
• United Film vs. China Film Group: Pay Attention, Foreign Studios | China Hearsay
  Beijing-based film and television investment company United Film Investment recently filed suit against the China Film Group in the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court. United alleges that the China Film Group violated a number of terms of the companies’ agreement for the film My Own Swordsman, on which they cooperated, including “severe falsification” of box office profit reports
• A Chinatown Rises in Mongolia’s Crown Jewel – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  In resource-rich, landlocked Mongolia, nationalism has often meant a wariness of its uncomfortably large neighbor to the south. Now, news that one of Mongolia’s crown jewels — the copper-gold mining project known as Oyu Tolgoi — employs more than a third of its work force from China could set the stage for a surge in tensions between the two countries.
• Foreigners Allowed! – Hotel Registration Tutorial ~ Lost Laowai China Blog
• CitronResearch.com » Citron Reports on Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd.
  Citron Research is pleased to present our analysis of Evergrande Real Estate Group.  This research and analysis, compiled over several months, presents the conclusion that HK:3333 is essentially an insolvent company that has consistently presented fraudulent information to the investing public.
• China’s Stocks Decline to 3-Month Low on Manufacturing Concern – Bloomberg
• China Manufacturing Slump May Match That of 2008 Crisis – Bloomberg
  The preliminary reading was 48.1 for a purchasing managers’ index today from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Above-50 readings indicate expansion. The lowest crisis level was 40.9 in November 2008, when industrial production increased 5.4 percent from a year earlier, compared with a gain of 9.6 percent last month.
• Evergrande Slumps on Short-Seller Report: Hong Kong Mover – Bloomberg
  Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd. (3333), China’s second-biggest developer by sales, fell by the most since September in Hong Kong trading after it was targeted in a newsletter by short-seller Citron Research. Evergrande said claims in the report were untrue. SOMEONE HAD INSIDE INFO AND TRADED ON IT//
  Wagers betting on declines in shares of Evergrande soared to the highest level on record before the Citron report today triggered a 20 percent slump in the stock, the most since the shares started trading in 2009. Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding rose to 6.74 on June 19, according to the most recent data compiled by Data Explorers. Short sellers borrow securities with a view to sell them, expecting to be able to buy them back more cheaply in the future.
• What’s wrong with the SCMP? | Zhongnanhai
  good ideas in this post, but think scmp is a lost cause
• Chinese soccer: Vanity project or emerging superpower? – CNN.com
  It seems strange, but the Ivory Coast striker is the latest in a line of high-profile football figures to take advantage of the attractive salaries on offer in the Chinese Super League (CSL). He will reportedly be paid $315,000 a week — the highest in the CSL.
• China’s Ai Weiwei threatened with bigamy, pornography charges
• Damage Control After Call to Ease China Property Curbs – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  glimpse of a contentious debate
• China Media Project–China Purges Media Corruption Ahead of Key Congress
  In the past, ostensible campaigns to combat “news extortion,” “fake news”, “paid-for news” and other forms of media corruption have also been used to target legitimate hard news or investigative reporting. The timing of this campaign ahead of the 18th National Congress of the CCP might suggest a general vigilance by the authorities over news content regarded as sensitive, and that might upset the CCP session.
• Military officers to report personal assets|Media Digests|chinadaily.com.cn
• In China’s Dating Scene, Women Get Pickier – Businessweek
• PCAOB Warns China Patience is Wearing Thin – Compliance Week
• 高清：南京高铁站建成即废 被网友称“奇葩”_新闻_腾讯网
  abandoned, new high speed rail station at zijin. shandong. China bear porn
• Courthouse News Service–Chai Ling Sued By Fired Staffer
  After spending five years in Chinese prisons for her human rights work, a woman claims in Federal Court, she continued her work in the United States, until her new bosses fired her for being “insufficiently religious” and for refusing to pray with her bosses every day.
  Jing Zhang and Women’s Rights in China sued Jenzabar Inc., The Jenzabar Foundation, All Girls Allowed and their founder and Jing’s former boss, Ling Chai.

The best way to read this blog is to subscribe by email, especially if you are in China, as Sinocism is still mostly blocked by the GFW. The email signup page is here, outside the GFW. You can also follow me on @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. Comments/tips/suggestions/donations are welcome, and feel free to forward/recommend to friends. Thanks for reading.

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