The Sinocism China Newsletter For 10.27.12

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Just links today:

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Chinese Capital Flight – Business Insider – BofA’s Lu Ting doesn’t expect capital flight to be a “sustained big issue” for China. With the possible reversal of capital flight in the fourth quarter he now expects just one 50 basis points RRR cut before the end of 2012.

Bottoms up: China booze makers defy economic gloom | Reuters – do the predictions of ballooning elderly population take into account the hypertension and other health problems so many men in their 40s have here, in large part from all the drinking, smoking and late nights required in jobs? // Analysts said a government clampdown on using public funds to buy luxury items such as baijiu, announced in March, had a limited impact on high-end liquor firms because of private sector demand and stronger sales of lower-end brands.

Trusts, Bonds Lead Surge in Credit ‘Gambling’ – – Debates over potential risk are not slowing a race to finance local government projects without bank loans

收入分配改革方案将不绕行垄断行业_国内财经_新浪财经_新浪网 – Income redistribution reform plan will not avoid monopoly industries

经济参考网–收入分配改革方案出台在即 三大疑问待解 – three questions about the forthcoming income distribution reform plan// 疑问一:如何提高低收入人群收入? 疑问二:如何调节垄断行业高收入? 疑问三:如何规范灰色收入?

收入分配改革方案年底或出台 公务员工资制度将改革_中国经营网_中国经营报 –

VIE rumors | China Accounting Blog | Paul Gillis – too bad Paul doesn’t say which listed company may have a VIE backdating problem// I have also heard that the SEC has called the technical people from the Big Four firms in for a chat about the use of VIEs in China. My source thought the SEC wanted to learn more about how VIE accounting works in China. I think the SEC knows VIE accounting in China very well and the meeting more likely is about issues the SEC has with current practice. Stay tuned.

GM, CFO, Translator in New York/ Los Angeles/India Representative Office, Wanda Group at Dalian Wanda Group in New York/ Los Angeles/India – Job | LinkedIn –

 

POLITICS AND LAW

‘Great Journalism’ That Has Unwanted Business Impact in China | The Public Editor – NYTimes.com – Mr. Sulzberger said the publication of the article was preceded by “conversations with the Chinese government to discuss it.” “They wanted to air their concerns – which I listened to, as I should,” Mr. Sulzberger said. “And eventually, we made a decision to publish.”

Chinese left in the dark over new leaders – FT.com – The fixation on the final list of names is being fed by apparent misinformation campaigns from various interest groups who hope to influence the process. Some analysts argue that the real focus should be on how opaque and anachronistic the process is for a huge and rapidly modernising economy that now plays such an important role in the world.

工信部回应十八大“封网”传言_政经频道_财新网 – MIIT says no Internet shutdown during Party Congress but will undergo maintenance to ensure it functions “smoothly”// 称“封网”一词“用得不准确”。通过多项措施保证十八大期间网络安全和畅通,其中包括“围绕高发事件和热点问题,组织开展跨企业、跨地区的互联网网络安全检查”

Party Congress Preview-Sinica Podcast –good podcast this week

毛远新携毛泽东旧部现身 辟“去毛化”传言_多维新闻网 – Duowei questions rumors of De-Maoification// 与此同时,中央办公厅也决定北京毛主席纪念堂增设延安等4厅,强化毛泽东的“丰功伟绩”。因此有学者指出,这表明所谓“去毛化”的问题在高层中间仍未得到共识。

薄熙来全国人大代表职务被罢免 秦城监狱正式收监_多维新闻网 – Duowei says their sources claim Bo Xilai already sent to Qincheng prison // 消息人士也对多维新闻指出,薄熙来已被正式收监秦城监狱,七中全会将会对其进行最终定性。此外,如果正式进入司法阶段,薄熙来岳母范承秀希望曾经参加为谷开来辩护工作的律师李小林代表薄出庭辩护。

北京发出修正邓小平“不争论”路线的信号_多维新闻网 – 因此,这篇文章本身,无疑是北京发出了一个重大信号,在展开政治体制改革的前夜,必须进行一次全民的大讨论,以凝聚全民的共识。

NIMBY Protest Watch: Tear Gas Used in Ningbo | Tea Leaf Nation–  people in the coastal city of Ningbo have taken to the streets to urge the local authorities to call off a controversial project that may impact the environment. Protesters object to the proposed capacity expansion by Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company, which is a subsidiary of Sinopec

武警新疆兵团指挥部升格为副军级_新闻_腾讯网

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

联通更换思科设备 中国运营商开始重视安全问题 | 每经网 – Huawei related backlash against Cisco//Caixin Summary “Telecoms companies have begun to strengthen network security on the two backbone networks that together provide the infrastructure for much of the country’s Internet activity. China Unicom has completed relocating a core router contributing to the China169 backbone network. The American networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc. provides the majority of equipment for the China163 and China169 networks, operated by China Telecom and China Unicom. Together the two account for 80 percent of the country’s network activity. ”

Playing Hardball With Chinese Investors – WSJ.com – “When people say we don’t have any leverage over China, well, yes we do,” adds Derek Scissors, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation who previously counseled companies on doing business in China. “You might want to remind them that access to our market just may not be approved.”

详解解放军四总部将领大调整_政经频道_财新网 – 赵克石任总后勤部部长 与政委刘源“搭班子” Caixin report on PLA leadership changes, mentions Liu Yuan, abridged English translation

 

HONG KONG AND TAIWAN

H.K. Imposes Property Tax on Non-Locals on Bubble Risks – Bloomberg – Non-local buyers will have to pay a 15 percent tax upon purchase, Financial Secretary John Tsang told reporters at a press conference yesterday. The government also raised a resale tax on property by about 5 percentage points and extended the period during which it will apply to three years from two.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

TV stars’ skyrocketing pays need to be capped – People’s Daily Online – Nowadays, 60 to 70 percent of a TV drama’s production budget will go straight to its actors’ paychecks and often even just those of one or two of the drama’s A-list stars.

Guanxi.me Secures Series A Funding from SingTel Innov8 for China and Asia Expansion — SHANGHAI, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — – Guanxi Inc. operates the Guanxi.me SNS platform consisting of smartphone apps, mobile-web services, SMS services and web-based backend management systems. The Guanxi.me app, available on both Android and iOS, enables users to see and interact with people and places around them, and intelligently notifies them when relevant people or offers are nearby.

 

SOCIETY, ART, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Time to loosen family planning policy: think tank – Xinhua | English.news.cn – Problems in population structure, quality and distribution have become increasingly visible and will have a profound impact on China’s future social and economic development, the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) said in a report.

Top China official urges residency permit reform | Reuters – In comments to a work meeting cited by the official Xinhua news agency, security tsar Zhou Yongkang said China should establish as soon as possible a new “national residence permit system” to improve services for migrant workers.

China adopts mental health law to curb forced treatment | Reuters – China adopted a law on Friday to protect for the first time the rights of the mentally ill after years of accusations that psychiatric hospitals are used to lock up people against their will and silence dissidents.

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : A last opportunity, missed – Three months before the war, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Hanfu warned R.K. Nehru of military action if India did not stop its advancements in the western sector

Recently Discovered Meteorite Buddha with Swastika Likely a Fake – SPIEGEL ONLINE – The discovery sounded like a sensation: A statue of a Buddha, allegedly 1,000 years old and collected by the Nazis in Tibet, had been carved out of a piece of meteorite. Now, however, it looks as though only the latter detail is true. The work is likely a fake produced at some point during the 20th century

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH

Less and Less Lake – Caixin  In a year with much less rainfall than expected, the shrinking Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province saw its water supply continue to sharply diminish. The water-surface area of what was once China’s largest freshwater lake has drastically shrunk since August. On August 16, Poyang Lake’s water-surface area hit this year’s record of 3,990 square kilometers. On October 25, the water-surface area had shrunk to just 1,060 kilometers

Lost in an Artificial Lake Craze – Caixin – Artificial bodies of water are popping up in some of the driest parts of China at the behest of local governments looking to beautify landscapes

四川国宝级动物“六不像”大量死亡 疑被有钱人盗猎_资讯频道_凤凰网 – rich hunters decimating the Takin population in Sichuan?

 

FOOD AND TRAVEL

解密航空业“要客部”:让重要旅客的飞机先飞-搜狐新闻 – look at how Chinese airlines deal w official VIP passengers, tough for airlines, guaranteed to anger “commoners” // 如果订票者的身份是省、部级(含副职)以上官员,军队在职正军职少将以上军官,公使、大使级别外交官这样的重要客人(在一些航空公司,两院院士也榜上有名),系统就会提醒:要客来了。

 

BOOKS

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine,1958-1962: Jisheng Yang: Amazon The much-anticipated definitive account of China’s Great Famine

Book Review: Tombstone | The Great Famine in China – WSJ.com – Mr. Yang set about writing his book as a tombstone for his father and for every victim who had died from starvation. He was also erecting a tombstone for the system that brought about the Great Famine. First published in Hong Kong in 2008, Mr. Yang’s work is banned in China.

China’s Superbank: Debt,Oil and Influence – How China Development Bank is Rewriting the Rules of Finance (Bloomberg): Henry Sanderson,Michael Forsythe: Amazon.com: Kindle Store – Anyone wanting a primer on the secret of China’s economic success need look no further than China Development Bank (CDB)—which has displaced the World Bank as the world’s biggest development bank, lending billions to countries around the globe to further Chinese policy goals. In China’s Superbank, Bloomberg authors Michael Forsythe and Henry Sanderson outline how the bank is at the center of China’s domestic economic growth and how it is helping to expand China’s influence in strategically important overseas markets.

The best way to see this daily post is to subscribe by email. You can also follow me on Twitter @niubi or Sina Weibo @billbishop. And f you like this service, please support Sinocism