Apologies for the longer than planned hiatus from commentary. My kids and I have all been sick since we got to DC. Maybe we are not used to the air…

Things will be back to normal imminently. Thanks for reading.

• Debunking misconceptions on China? | Institute for New Economic Thinking
  Pettis’ students//
  Recently the research house CLSA issued an in-depth special report on Chinese economy called Misunderstanding China, trying to debunk certain so-called western illusions about China’s economy. Some of its points, such as the party’s influences on domestic financial institutions, the absence of a mature legal system and etc., are fairly reasonable. However, we believe that this report still illustrates a typical optimists’ view on China’s economy that we do not agree with. Therefore, we find it very necessary to clarify our standpoints of the Chinese Economy by raising our counter-arguments to some of CLSA’s assertions, with which we disagree most.
• China’s In-Law Wars Hammer On – Bloomberg
  At 6 a.m. last Wednesday, residents rushed out of a Shanghai housing compound and discovered the bloody aftermath of the latest episode in what may be China’s most ancient and intractable conflict: the war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
  In this case, the carnage was particularly ferocious. Two women, a 60-year-old mother-in-law, and her five-month pregnant daughter-in-law, left a trail of blood from the building to their respective ambulances.
• China Economic Watch | China’s Wild West Interest Rate Liberalization
  China is conducting a large experiment with interest rate liberalization, albeit in an uncontrolled and seemingly unplanned way. The pace of official interest rate liberalization has been glacial since 2004, only recently revived with the decision to increase flexibility around the benchmark deposit rate…
  A better way forward would be to expand the flexibility around the benchmark deposit and lending rates at a more rapid pace. Greater flexibility on deposit rates will bring savers back into the formal banking system and away from risky financial products. Interest rate flexibility on both lending and deposit rates will give banks an ability to compete based off their risk-pricing ability rather than the size of their branch network. Having all of this occur within the formal banking system and under the watchful eye of regulators will help defuse the risks that are currently developing in the WMP market.
• China ties at risk without real leaders, says expert
  In a scathing indictment of Australia’s political and public service leadership, the Lowy Institute’s Linda Jakobson says the Gillard government must work out what Australia wants from China, be brave enough to talk about the anxieties inherent in China’s rise, and move on from mouthing platitudes that no one believes.
• Migrant worker arrested for blog post | SCMP.com
  A 31-year-old migrant worker in Guangdong’s Zhongshan city has been arrested in the wake of demonstrations by migrant workers, which led to the lockdown of the Shaxi township for at least two days….
• No longer silent: Sexual harassment case by renowned high school teacher in Shanghai exposed 15 years later | Offbeat China
• China Shows Force in Shaxi after Worker Riots – China Digital Times (CDT)
• A whiff of race-traitorhood: Sohu readers eviscerate a Global Times editorial « southseaconversations 讨论南海
• Juilliard to branch out to Tianjin|Art|chinadaily.com.cn
  The Juilliard School (“Juilliard”) in New York has signed a framework agreement with Tianjin to set up an educational institute in the Yujiapu financial district of Tianjin on June 27.
• 汪洋开设“另类考场”|汪洋|开设|另类_21世纪网
  wang yang requires guangdong city mayors and party secretaries to pass a test that includes sending an email, reading weibo, going on qq, video conferencing, interacting with netizens
• 德州故事： 山东原副省长黄胜落马内情|黄胜|德州|故事_21世纪网
  details of the downfall of shandong vice governor huang sheng. sold official posts, use his position to enrich his relatives, and was decadent
• Diplomatic Crisis Provides Romney Policy Opportunity – NYTimes.com
  One adviser said to favor a more calibrated approach was Evan A. Feigenbaum, a co-chairman of Mr. Romney’s Asia-Pacific working group and a former State Department official. Arguing for a relatively more aggressive response was Aaron L. Friedberg, another co-chairman who was a national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Friedberg is known for favoring a hard line on China, and others say it was almost certain the two men would stake out different ground.
• Husband of Forced Abortion Victim Still Missing – Caixin Online
  Deng Jiyuan, husband of forced abortion victim Feng Jianmei was last seen by his family on June 24 after he was reportedly harassed by local villagers and officials
• Closer Look: Behind Evergrande’s Football Ambition – Caixin Online
  The off-sheet trust financing model and the inadequate information may put investors at risk
• The Old Grey Lady in Red China – By Isaac Stone Fish | Foreign Policy
  Will the just-launched New York Times Chinese-edition get censored by Beijing’s media watchers?
• Will Valemax Ore Ships Sink or Swim in China? – Caixin Online
  Shipowners have tried to block the huge vessels poised to bring Brazilian iron ore into nation’s ports
• Ancient Chinese pottery confirmed as the oldest yet found | Science | guardian.co.uk
  20,000-year-old discovery helps dispel conventional theories that hunter-gathers did not use pottery
• China’s security state: Guarding the guardians | The Economist
• Warren Rothman | LinkedIn
• China instability rising with fungible rule of law – Joel Brinkley – POLITICO.com
• Zhou Yongkang’s Successor | China Power
• Top Five Power Generators Lose 15 Bln in 2011 – Caixin Online
• United Technologies acknowledges coverup of sale of military software to China – The Washington Post
  how do ut executives not go to jail for this?
• The RMA with Chinese Characteristics in the Future Security Environment | Global Trends 2030
• 广东反腐 汪洋要壮士断腕_多维新闻网
• 中共高层释放政法改革“探气球”_多维新闻网
• 北京一套二手房30天涨价53万 新建房郊区化推涨_地方经济_新浪财经_新浪网
  government losing war on consumer expectations re real estate? a 2nd hand home in beijing increased by 530k rmb in a month
• 老外讲述混在中国的日子：越来越难混|老外|三非外国人|外事_新浪新闻
  Xinmin cover on how things have changed in China for foreigners
• Chinese econ stats: to doubt or not to doubt? | beyondbrics
  Is China’s slowdown worse than the government is letting on? That was the provocative claim in a New York Times article last week which reported that officials were manipulating data on everything from tax revenue to power production in order to present a rosier picture of the economy.But two prominent analysts have now come to Beijing’s defence, arguing that Chinese statistics are reliable and concerns about falsification overblown. They say the truth is that the economy is slowing, not collapsing, and that the data have accurately portrayed this.
• Got Scandal? Dark Day for China’s Bright Dairy – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  This time the culprit is Shanghai’s Bright Dairy & Food Co., which has been forced to recall milk that was tainted with detergent. According to the city’s quality bureau, Bright Dairy had to recall the milk due to a “technical” problem that resulted in detergent finding its way into the company’s Ubest fresh milk.
• Two Senior Foreign Bankers Leave China’s CCB International – Deal Journal – WSJ
  these Western bankers also typically command much higher salaries than their Chinese counterparts, putting huge cost pressures on the banks particularly as investment banking activity has slowed in recent months.
• Diplomatic Crisis Provides Romney Policy Opportunity – NYTimes.com
  One adviser said to favor a more calibrated approach was Evan A. Feigenbaum, a co-chairman of Mr. Romney’s Asia-Pacific working group and a former State Department official. Arguing for a relatively more aggressive response was Aaron L. Friedberg, another co-chairman who was a national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Friedberg is known for favoring a hard line on China, and others say it was almost certain the two men would stake out different ground.
• IKEA suppliers reportedly lower product quality to cut costs｜Economy｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
  Swedish furniture brand IKEA has been accused of including unfair clauses in the agreements it makes with its affiliated contract factories in China. The problem, which has prompted local contract suppliers to cut corners to reduce costs, has also sparked heated discussions online, the Chinese-language National Business Daily reports.
• 21st Century China – Conferences
  Internationalization of the Renminbi:
  Its Implications for China’s Domestic Reform and the International System
• 艺术品信托三大庄家被查：牵动12款信托神经|邦文|雅盈堂|中融信托_21世纪网
  big investigation into the very sketchy art trust poducts
• Chinese Phone Makers Buy Lots of AMOLED Panels From Samsung Supplier » M.I.C. Gadget
  There was a time, not so long ago, when China-based handset makers were making phones with crappy hardware to compete with Apple’s iPhone. Today, several Chinese handset makers have their own flagship phones that feature impressive hardware, and they are no longer a piece of crap. The ones we love include the Huawei Ascend P1, Meizu MX, Xiaomi M1, and Oppo Finder. Well, it seems like these handset makers are placing bulk orders for AMOLED panels from a Samsung component distributor.
• Migrant Workers Riot in Guangdong – China Digital Times (CDT)
• Land Revenue Drops in 20 Chinese Cities; Beijing Hit 5Yr Low-Caijing
  Prudent developers stay on the sideline as their expectations for house prices in the future remain low, with a bloated inventory of unsold homes
• Asia Sentinel – Prize-Winning Reporter paul mooney Driven out of SCMP
  On April 22, Wang Xiangwei, the new editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post, informed me that my contract with the newspaper would not be renewed when it expired on May 21. I can’t say I was surprised.
• Smartphone Shipments in China to Reach 140 Mln in 2012 | Marbridge Consulting – China Wireless News
  Taiwan-based Digitimes Research reported recently that Mainland Chinese smartphone shipments will increase to 140 mln units this year, with Samsung and Apple accounting for a combined 40% of the total. Domestic manufacturers Huawei, ZTE (0763.HK; 000063.SZ), Lenovo (0992.HK), and Yulong Computer Telecommunication (Coolpad), a subsidiary of China Wireless Technologies (2369.HK), will divide another 40% of the total amongst themselves, leaving little market space for other brands
• “So, Let Me Explain How American Health Care Works” : The New Yorker
  In the final minutes of his show, after the cartoon finished, Gao tried to unknot an even harder puzzle: How did American political discourse get to the point where it is today? On that one, no amount of American experience had prepared him for what he has encountered. “I once watched a debate between some important congressmen on TV,” he said. One of their arguments: “Why should we, people who work hard and pay our taxes, pay more taxes for those people who eat a lot and don’t exercise so that they can have health insurance?” He gave a bewildered look, and continued. The issue was deeper than health care, he explained. “In America, there is no unified idea that ‘democracy and freedom are great, and everyone should be equal.’ That’s not the case. When they talk about democracy, freedom, and equality, it is more like a kind of chess.”
• The South China Sea Oil Card | M. Taylor Fravel
  Over the weekend, the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) quietly announced that nine new blocks in the South China Sea were now open to foreign oil companies for exploration and development.  This move reflects one of the starkest efforts by China to assert its maritime rights in these disputed waters – and constitutes a direct challenge to Vietnam’s own claims.Unlike the blocks that CNOOC offered in2010 and 2011, the new ones are located entirely within disputed waters in the South China Sea.  As this map shows, the new blocks lie off Vietnam’s central coast and comprise of more than 160,000 square kilometers. The western edge of some blocks appear to be less than 80 nautical miles from Vietnam’s coast, well within that country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. All the blocks overlap at least partially with PetroVietnam’s, including potentially ones where foreign oil companies have ongoing exploration activities.
• China Local Government Finances Are Unsustainable, Auditor Says – Bloomberg
  The finances of China’s county-level governments are unstable and unsustainable as the majority of their fiscal income comes from sources other than taxation, the nation’s top auditor said.
• Vietnam Warns China to Halt Oil Bids in Exxon-Awarded Area – Bloomberg
  Vietnam’s state-run oil explorer warned China to halt efforts to develop disputed areas of the South China Sea that Hanoi’s leaders have already awarded to companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and OAO Gazprom.
• China’s Stock Index Erases 2012 Gain After June Plunge – Bloomberg
  so much for thinking the government would prop u the market
• Chinese military may establish presence in Sansha: defense spokesman – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  Military authorities are considering establishing a presence in the city of Sansha. China may set up local military command organs in the city according to relevant regulations. The State Council has approved the establishment of the prefectural-level city of Sansha.

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