Just links today:

• China’s hawks gaining sway in South China sea dispute-Reuters
  Still waiting for someone to identify a softliner in the civilian leadership//
  Dean Cheng, a China security expert at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, said Beijing was hardening its stance in the South China Sea and also in other maritime areas where it had disputes with Japan and South Korea.
  “We have a broad set of hardliners, not just in uniform, but across the board,” he said.
• Wanda secures regulatory approvals for AMC theaters acquisition – latimes.com
• Hong Kong’s Largest Bullion Vault Signals Region’s Rising Wealth – Bloomberg
  Hong Kong’s largest gold-storage facility, which can hold about 22 percent of the bullion now in Fort Knox, will open in September to meet rising demand from banks and the wealthy, according to owner Malca-Amit Global Ltd.
• Mercedes Maker Sells Record Bond as Loans Curbed: China Credit – Bloomberg
  Beijing Automotive Group Co., which makes Mercedes-Benz-branded cars in China, sold its biggest bond ever as falling sales in the world’s largest auto market make banks reluctant to lend to the industry.
• Sands China Earnings Decline 40% on Impairment, Winnings – Bloomberg
  Growth is slowing in the world’s largest gaming hub as high-stake gamblers, or the VIPs who contribute more than 70 percent of Macau’s revenue, cut back spending amid a weaker Chinese economy. Smaller Wynn Macau Ltd. reported a drop in revenue for the second quarter.
• Illuminant’s Chinese Takeout: Understanding Chinese Holidays for Better Business Outcomes
• China flooding gives government another credibility crisis – latimes.com
• China Has no Pension Shortfalls: Official-Caijing
  Chinese media reported that last year the pension had already seen shortfalls of around 2.25 trillion yuan
• Empty Nest Syndrome for Post-Olympics Beijing – Caixin Online
  Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest stadium and Water Cube exemplify the high price paid to satisfy Olympic building dreams
• 因灾死亡信息将适时公布_头版_新京报电子报
• 央视大火案三名被告重审宣判 三人刑期均增加_新闻_腾讯网
  additional sentences for three already in jail for the 2009 CCTV fire
• 房山防洪水库旁建高尔夫球场 泄洪或受阻|水库高尔夫球场|房山区水务局|房山防洪能力_21世纪网
  golf course next to a dam in fangshan may slow release of flood waters
• Apple’s rivals swoop as iPhone China sales flag | Reuters
  Samsung, which flagged a record quarterly profit of $5.9 billion earlier this month, saw stronger-than-expected demand for its latest Galaxy S III model, while HTC’s One X also gained popularity among phone users globally, including the greater China region.”The S III and One X are outselling the iPhone now because people like their wider screens, better cameras and the apps are pretty good,” said a salesperson at an electronics store in Hong Kong that carries phones from Apple, Samsung, HTC and Nokia Ojy.New smartphones made by China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, ZTE Corp and Xiaomi were also hot sells, in part because the price was right. They are heavily subsidized by China’s three telecom carriers.
• Shell ups China presence with CNOOC tie-up | Reuters
  Oil major Shell (RDSa.L) sealed an exploration tie-up with China’s state-run oil firm CNOOC (0883.HK) on Wednesday in a move which will help secure longer term growth from projects in the world’s energy-hungry second largest economy
• U.S. presses China on deteriorating rights conditions | Reuters
  The United States is pressing China to address its “deteriorating” rights record, citing cases including the nephew of blind dissident Chen Guangcheng who activists say has been targeted following his famous uncle’s departure for New York this year, the State Department said on Wednesday
• How Much Power Does China’s ‘People’s’ Army Have? | China Power
  The real concern should be whether China’s civilian leaders have the intellectual experience or the ability to draw on military expertise independent of the PLA to manage the PLA’s increasing competence and influence. The Party controls the gun—1.8 million out of roughly 3 million PLA and armed police personnel are party members—but this is not a question about whether the PLA is rogue or will turn on Zhongnanhai. This issue is to what extent China’s civilian policymakers, especially Hu and Xi, truly understand the capabilities and limitations of the PLA and the options it puts forward—and how that understanding affects decisions of war and peace.
• The Useless Tree: The Chinese Political System is not a Meritocracy
  Sam Crane eviscerates Bell’s muddled thinking yet again//
  Daniel Bell has a piece today in the CSM, arguing that the PRC political system is, basically, a meritocracy that holds lessons that might correct the flaws of US democracy.  Bell is a philosopher and he tends to operate in normative terms (i.e. what a meritocracy ought to be; what a democracy ought to be; how the ideal of meritocracy might improve democracy).  I do not want to engage with the normative questions because there is a rather glaring empirical problem: the current Chinese political system is not a meritocracy by the definition Bell puts forth.  And I think we could push a bit further to say that, in fact, the imperial Chinese system was not a meritocracy either, if we consider a somewhat broader definition of that term.
• James Fallows – The Colbert Report – 2012-24-07 – Video Clip | Comedy Central
  Award-winning journalist James Fallows examines the growth of China’s aircraft business and what it means for U.S. aerospace exports.
• China Predicts Fewer Medals at 2012 London Olympics – China Real Time Report – WSJ
  The Chinese Olympics delegation Wednesday projected that it wouldn’t win as many medals in London as it did four years ago in its home country.
• North Korea State Media Identify Kim Jong Eun’s Companion as His Wife – WSJ.com
  The woman who has appeared at several events with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Eun this month is his wife and her name is Ri Sol Ju, the North’s state-run broadcasters reported Wednesday night.
• China Shifts Course, Lets Yuan Drop – WSJ.com
  China’s central bank is starting to guide the yuan downward against the dollar after two years of trying to boost its value, reflecting concern in Beijing over China’s slowing economy and risking a political fight with the U.S.
• Chinese VP stresses strengthening China-U.S. ties – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (R) meets with U.S. National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon in Beijing, capital of China, July 25, 2012
• China to form high-speed railway network by 2015 – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  China will have established a high-speed railway network covering almost all its cities with a population of more than 500,000 by 2015, according to a latest official program.
• China’s coal barons struggle amid falling coal prices – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  The China Coal Price Index shows that China’s benchmark power-station coal price fell for the 11th week as stockpiles at the Qinhuangdao Port in Hebei province, which boasts one of the country’s highest export volumes, rose the most in six months on slowing demand.
• Chinese police bust 600 online criminal gangs – Xinhua | English.news.cn
  Chinese police have busted more than 600 criminal gangs for Internet-based crimes such as spreading lewd content, arms dealing and illegally collecting citizens’ personal information since a special campaign was launched in March.As of June, more than 10,000 suspects had been arrested and some 3.2 million “harmful” online messages had been deleted, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Ministry of Public Security.
• China, US to work together in Asia-Pacific |Politics |chinadaily.com.cn
  The United States and China should work toward positive and stable interaction in the Asia-Pacific region, not confrontation, said Vice-Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission Xu Caihou on Wednesday.
  Xu made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing with US National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon, who wrapped up a three-day visit to China on Wednesday evening.
• IMF: Soft landing ‘possible’ for Chinese economy |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn
  China’s economy is on track to achieve a soft landing despite the worsening external outlook, depending on boosting investment in the short term, which is pushing the government to internally rebalance the growth model toward consumption, a report from the International Monetary Fund said.
• 出租车业暴雨中缺位调查:公司垄断经营系病根|出租车|暴雨|垄断经营_新浪新闻
  Taxicabs’ shameful performance during beijing floods may bring government wrath. People are sick of the monopoly and bad service
• China to Flood Steel Market Hurting ArcelorMittal: Commodities – Bloomberg
• Gome Warns of First-Half Loss on Sales Drop, E-Commerce – Bloomberg
  The retailer reported an 88 percent profit decline in the first quarter as China stopped subsidizing some home appliance purchases. Larger rival Suning Appliance Co. said on July 13 that it expects first-half net income to fall by as much as 30 percent because of weaker sales and higher expenses
• China’s CIC Has Worst Overseas Performance in 2011 on Growth – Bloomberg
• China May Refrain From More Easing, IMF Official Says – Bloomberg
  China may refrain from stepping up its monetary stimulus or increasing spending because measures now in place are sufficient to support growth, the International Monetary Fund’s top official in the nation said.
• Interview with Adam Segal About China and the Cybersecurity Bill : The New Yorker
• Yale-PKU program to be canceled | Yale Daily News
  An email sent by a faculty member on the program’s advisory committee alleged that the program has not proven as popular among Yale undergraduates as administrators had hoped, that it was “extremely expensive for Yale,” and that its language component was “notoriously weak,” making it difficult for students to re-enter the Chinese language curriculum upon returning to New Haven.
• 2012 Macau Revenue Growth Forecast Lowered to 10%-12%
  2012 Macau Revenue Growth Forecast Lowered to 10%-12%
  Fitch has revised its 2012 Macau revenue growth forecast to 10%-12% from 15%, reflecting our more cautious view with respect to the near-term impact of the slowdown in China. This is our second downward revision over the last couple of months; as on June 8, 2012 market growth revenue forecast was reduced to 15% from 20% upon initial signs the slowdown was greater than original expectations. Macau market revenues grew 42% in 2011 and 58% in 2010.
• Cyber-Maoism and the micro struggle session – China Media Project
  Here we find, in the dawning age of social media in China, what we might call Maoist atavism. Social media are used as a contemporary, real-time tool to politically attack and shame one’s perceived ideological enemies — not at all unlike the so-called “struggle sessions” of the Mao era.These are, we might say, “micro-struggle sessions”, or wei pidou (微批斗).
• Activist claims abuse in Chinese detention center <img src=http://110.45.173.104/www/news/images/ic_korean.gif>
  Kim said he was not allowed to sleep at night, was malnourished and was forced to do hard labor for 13 hours every day at the Chinese detention center in the northeastern city of Dandong.
• How Tencent’s Qute is Chatting Up Indonesia
  So Tencent’s made-for-Indonesia Qute messaging app has more than a million users. That makes me curious to find out what is it all about and how is it different from the 100 million user strong WeChat. On surface, there isn’t too much of a difference since both WeChat and Qute are mobile chat apps. You type, you send, you chat — that’s about it.
• Vietnam, Philippines refuse to recognize China’s Sansha district｜Politics｜News｜WantChinaTimes.com
• Heard on the Street: Baidu’s Search for Mobile Revenue – WSJ.com
  Looking ahead further, though, the outlook is more uncertain. China’s Internet is changing fast, and in ways that threaten Baidu’s position as the spider in the center of the web.In the first half of 2012, mobile topped the desktop personal computer as the main entry point for Chinese Internet users. That’s a first. For Baidu, it could be a problem.

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