Just links today:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
Defense.gov Speech: International Institute for Strategic Studies (Shangri-La Dialogue) As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Singapore, Saturday, June 01, 2013 With this incredible promise come complications and challenges. In Asia, we see a range of persistent and emerging threats. These threats include: North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, and its continued provocations; Ongoing land and maritime disputes and conflicts over natural resources; The continued threat of natural disaster, the curse of poverty and the threat of pandemic disease; Environmental degradation; Illicit trafficking in people, weapons, drugs, and other dangerous materials – including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; And the growing threat of disruptive activities in space and cyberspace.
Related: U.S. and China to Hold Talks on Hacking – NYTimes.com a senior American official involved in the negotiations to hold regular meetings said in an interview on Friday that “we need to get some norms and rules.” “It is a serious issue that cannot simply be swatted away with talking points,” said the official, who noted that the meetings would focus primarily on the theft of intellectual property from American companies. “Our concerns are not limited to that, but that’s what needs urgent attention,” he added.
Related: Hagel, in Remarks Directed at China, Speaks of Cyberattack Threat – NYTimes.com Speaking to an audience of defense analysts and defense ministers from Asia and Europe at the annual conference of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr. Hagel said the United States was “cleareyed about the challenges in cyber.” “The United States has expressed our concerns about the growing threat of cyberintrusions, some of which appear to be tied to the Chinese government and military,” he said in a speech largely devoted to the Obama administration’s defense posture in Asia. At the same time, Mr. Hagel emphasized the need for more talks between the American and Chinese militaries to build trust and reduce the risk of miscalculation at a time of mounting rivalry.
Related: Hagel chides China for cyberspying – The Washington Post After Hagel’s speech, a Chinese general took to the microphone. In unusually pointed remarks, Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu, director of China-America defense relations at the Chinese military’s Academy of Military Science, started with a wry remark. “Thank you for mentioning China several times,” she said to Hagel, drawing laughter and muttering. U.S. officials have long said their growing footprint in the Asia-Pacific region is not meant to offset China’s military might, Yao said, but noted that “China is not convinced.”
How to Play Well With China – NYTimes– Amb. Jon Hunstman & Ian Bremmer THE first step will be for Mr. Obama and his representatives to stop trying to negotiate with the China they want to see and engage China as it is. The Chinese won’t accept another approach, and the United States doesn’t have the power to force them to. China is every bit as exceptionalist as America, and has been for centuries. It is a country prepared to make rather than accept new rules, and one that will compete with the United States for Asian and global hegemony. // good OpEd, interesting that Amb. Huntsman attached himself to Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer for this?
Related: China’s Economic Empire – NYTimes.com a dollop of scare-mongering on the NYT OpEd page to go with the Hunstman-Bremmer piece? // As China becomes a global player and a fierce competitor in American and European markets, its political system and state capitalist ideology pose a threat. It is therefore essential that Western governments stick to what has been the core of Western prosperity: the rule of law, political freedom and fair competition. They must not think shortsightedly. Giving up on our commitment to human rights, or being compliant in the face of rapacious state capitalism, will hurt Western countries in the long term. It is China that needs to adapt to the world, not the other way around.Heriberto Araújo and Juan Pablo Cardenal are the authors of “China’s Silent Army: The Pioneers, Traders, Fixers and Workers Who Are Remaking The World in Beijing’s Image.” // have not read this book, did not hear good things about from people I respect. Any readers read it, think it is worth getting?
Related: American Way: It is time for Barack Obama and Xi Jinping to claim their places in history – Telegraph Lord Powell of Bayswater, one of Britain’s veteran China hands, who sat in on meetings between Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher more than 30 years ago, compares its potential significance to the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Geneva that ultimately paved the way for the ending of the Cold War. “If the two presidents can get to a better personal understanding of what they are both looking for over the next few years, that could be extremely valuable,” he says on the phone from Guangzhou, where he is on yet another trip that combines business with quiet, high-level diplomacy. “It really could be an important tipping point in Sino-US relations, but we won’t know until six months or a year down the line that that is what it was.”
Xi stresses friendship, cooperation in meeting with Trinidad and Tobago president – Xinhua | English.news.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Saturday that his three-day state visit to Trinidad and Tobago is to improve the two countries’ friendly cooperation and further consolidate bilateral ties. Though geographically far apart, China and Trinidad and Tobago enjoy a profound traditional friendship, Xi said in a meeting with President of Trinidad and Tobago Anthony Carmona. Trinidad and Tobago was among the first Caribbean countries to establish diplomatic ties with China and has always supported China on issues concerning China’s core interests, Xi said. “The Chinese people will never forget that Trinidad and Tobago cast its vote in favor of restoring the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations in 1971,” Xi said…During the visit, Xi will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica, all of which are Caribbean countries with diplomatic ties with China.
Related: President Xi Jinping Gives a Joint Written Interview to the Media of Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico – Xinhua | English.news.cn disappointing if no American media gets an interview before his meeting with Obama in California?// Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a joint written interview to the media of Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico ahead of his state visits to the three countries. The following is the full text of the interview:
Urbanisation: Some are more equal than others | The Economist An unusually public debate has unfolded in think-tanks, on microblogs and in state media about how China should improve the way it handles urbanisation. Some propose that migrants in cities should, as quickly as possible, be given the same rights to services as urban dwellers. Others insist that would-be migrants should first be given the right to sell their rural plot of land to give them a deposit for their new urban life. Still others say the government must allow more private and foreign competition in state-controlled sectors of the economy such as health care, which would expand urban services for all, including migrants. Most agree the central government must bear much more of the cost of public services and give more power to local governments to levy taxes…. The hukou perpetuates a rigid caste system. Children of holders of rural hukou inherit their parents’ second-class status, even if they are born in cities. Many urbanites want to keep this system in place, to protect their preferential access to jobs, education and health care.
Related: Are You Willing To Send Your Child To The Same School As The Children Of Vegetable And Rice Sellers? | The Sinocism China Newsletter a post from 9.2011. Still waiting for someone to do the great story about the competition to get into top Beijing schools…makes New York’s challenges look easy // As with the rest of China, Beijing has too many people and too few resources. We have already seen Beijing limit purchases of cars and homes, and it is inconceivable that Beijing will reform the hukou system and allow anyone who applies to become an official Beijing resident. As I wrote earlier this year, it seems Beijing’s motto is becoming less “Beijing Welcomes You” and more “Beijing for Beijingers.”… This kind of mainstream discrimination is also relevant to the “China Fantasy” some foreign observers seem to hold about the eventual “democratization” of China. Beijingers, and probably most urban dwellers in China, are highly unlikely to ever allow rural Chinese to have equal status with them.
为实现中国梦提供有力理论支持_2013/11_求是理论网 Minister of Propaganda Liu Qibao writes lead essay in latest issue of “Seeking truth”, about providing theoretical support for achieving the “Chinese Dream” // 民族复兴中国梦，是新一届中央领导集体提出的重大战略思想，是党和国家未来发展的政治宣言，是全党全国各族人民共同的奋斗目标，是团结凝聚海内外中华儿女的一面精神旗帜，充分体现了我们党高度的历史担当和使命追求。中国梦一经提出，就引起了强烈反响，释放出强大的号召力和感染力。要把研究中国特色社会主义与研究中国梦统一起来，深入阐释中国梦的重大意义、精神实质和实践要求，讲清楚中国梦在国家、民族、个人三个层面的深刻内涵和有机联系，讲清楚实现中国梦在经济建设、政治建设、文化建设、社会建设、生态文明建设等方面的目标要求，讲清楚实现中国梦的现实路径、精神支撑和动力源泉。要深入阐释中国梦是和平之梦、和谐之梦，不仅造福中国人民，也造福世界人民，能够为世界和平发展带来新机遇，有利于推动世界持久和平、共同繁荣。研究中国特色社会主义、研究中国梦，要同研究马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想结合起来，深入研究马克思主义基本观点，研究毛泽东思想独创性的理论贡献，深刻阐明党的理论创新成果是对马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想的坚持和发展，既一脉相承又与时俱进。
Related: 凝聚中国力量 实现伟大梦想_2013/11_求是理论网 more in latest issue of seeking truth on attaining the “Chinese Dream” // 高举中国特色社会主义伟大旗帜，最根本的就是要坚定不移走中国道路，坚定中国特色社会主义道路自信、理论自信、制度自信。封闭僵化的老路，改旗易帜的邪路，都是死路一条，都会使中国梦落空。中国特色社会主义道路是党带领人民历经艰辛开辟出来的新路，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的必由之路。这条道路之所以正确，关键在于有中国特色社会主义理论体系的指导。思想僵化，党和国家就会失去活力；思想西化，党和国家就会走上邪路。两者都会葬送我们的前途和事业。中国特色社会主义理论体系既不丢老祖宗，又讲出了新话，是马克思主义中国化的最新成果，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的行动指南。道路、理论两个层面的探索实践成果，最终都要靠制度来落实和保障。中国特色社会主义制度集中体现了中国特色社会主义的特点和优势，是实现中华民族伟大复兴的根本制度保障。旗帜就是方向，旗帜就是形象。惟有高扬中国特色社会主义这面大旗，才能凝聚党心民心，进而形成实现中国梦的不可战胜的磅礴力量。（执笔：夏春涛, 中国社会科学院中国特色社会主义理论体系研究中心）
Related: 为实现中国梦提供有力理论支持_导读2013_求是理论网 nice study guide on Seeking Truth website to accompany Liu Qibao’s essay. is fact that this study guide appears to have come from a powerpoint presentation a sign that, as with many large western corporations, Microsoft PowerPoint has thoroughly infiltrated another huge bureaucracy and is bringing it to its knees through bloated, repetitive presentations? // 繁荣发展哲学社会科学，是坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的必然要求，是实现国家富强、民族振兴、人民幸福的强烈呼唤。在实现民族复兴中国梦的伟大征程中，哲学社会科学天地广阔、大有作为
Chinese premier vows to boost dairy industry – Xinhua | English.news.cn China’s cabinet on Friday announced detailed plans to improve the quality of domestic baby milk powder, fulfilling its pledge to address a persistent food safety issue that hinders more robust growth in the world’s second-largest economy. In an executive meeting of the State Council headed by Premier Li Keqiang, the government vowed to improve the quality of development of the nation’s dairy industry and help better establish domestic brands so as to regain consumer confidence. “Baby milk powder safety is not only an issue concerning people’s livelihood, but also a major economic and social issue affecting the nation’s future. It is urgent for the government to upgrade the safety standard of domestic baby milk powder,” according to a statement released after the meeting.
北京楼市压不住_杂志频道_财新网 Good Caixin story on how the Beijing Municipal government is trying to repress housing prices, and mostly failing, short of just blocking transactions outright, which it just did in a land sale when it appeared the price would set a record // “上有政策，下有对策”。有开发商采取“拆合同”的方式，将精装房拆为毛坯房和精装修两个合同，以较低的毛坯房价格通过预售审批，精装修部分另签合同。如此，既可突破限价令管制，还能找到涨价新途径。5月以来，北京市场精装项目数量明显增多。政府与开发商在博弈之际，心照不宣地“配合”着，共同完成限房价的“数字游戏”，最终购房者仍难逃脱涨价的命运。
Thoughts from the Chairman: Strong Political Crosscurrents in Beijing Sharpening Focus on Fall Plenum | Center for Strategic and International Studies These are humbling times for those of us engaged in the enterprise of prognosticating on the future trajectory of China’s political and economic development. This month alone, we have seen several conflicting signals regarding the overall policy direction of the newly-installed administration of President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping. Depending on which of these signals one chooses to focus on, and how one interprets them, it is entirely conceivable to form one of several equally defendable judgments concerning the current state-of-play in the Middle Kingdom.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
China Manufacturing Tops Estimates in Sign Growth Is Stabilizing – Bloomberg Previously released data show the federation’s PMI expanded at a faster pace in the first three months of 2012, while the HSBC gauge contracted over the same period. In yesterday’s report, a PMI gauge for smaller companies fell to 47.3 in May from 47.6 the previous month, a decline Wang said is consistent with the HSBC index. The increase in the main PMI reading was driven by faster growth in output, while a measure of new export orders showed a contraction for the fourth time in five months. The reading for new orders rose to 51.8 from 51.7.
China May official PMI stronger than expected | Reuters China’s official PMI rose to 50.8 in May from 50.6 in April, data showed on Saturday, beating market expectations and raising optimism that the world’s second-largest economy may be stabilizing. Investors will get a fuller picture of the Chinese economy on Monday when the official services PMI is released along with the final HSBC survey that focuses on smaller private sector firms in the country. The reading was stronger than market expectations of 50.1 in a Reuters poll.
China’s shadow banks: The credit kulaks | The Economist Critics of China’s shadow banking like to compare WMPs to the collateralised debt obligations at the heart of the global financial crisis. But according to Ting Lu of Merrill Lynch, the banks’ WMPs bear a closer resemblance to American money-market funds, investing mostly in safe, liquid, short-term paper. Those funds, which first arrived in America in 1971, competed successfully with bank deposits, forcing legislators to phase out America’s caps on deposit interest rates in the 1980s. Perhaps the banks’ WMPs will prove a similar spur to reform in China. // I moderated a panel in Beijing Thursday and an economist I respect made exactly this point, called the process a “stealth liberalization”, says of course WMPs have introduced new risks but it is not clear that those risks are larger or more systemic than the risks that exist with a totally state controlled banking system
Is This China’s ‘Minsky Moment’? | Zero Hedge China’s credit growth has been outstripping economic growth for five quarters with the corporate debt bubble looking increasingly precarious (as we explained here and here). This raises one key question: where has the money gone? As SocGen notes, although such divergence is not unprecedented, it potentially suggests a trend that gives greater cause for concern – China is approaching a Minsky moment. At the micro level, SocGen points out that a non-negligible share of the corporate sector and local government financial vehicles are struggling to cover their financial expense. At the macro level, they estimate that China’s debt servicing costs have significantly exceeded underlying economic growth. As a result, the debt snowball is getting bigger and bigger, without contributing to real activity (see CCFDs for a very big example). This is probably where most of China’s missing money went.
China’s Flawed Balance-of-Payments Position by Yu Yongding – Project Syndicate Without fundamental changes in its economic-growth pattern, it is difficult to imagine how China can become an immature creditor-lender and a mature creditor-lender. A more likely scenario is that China will continue to have a trade surplus (though much smaller) and an investment-income deficit, mirrored by America’s trade deficit and investment-income surplus. If both countries have balanced current accounts, their balance-of-payments positions can be sustainable. In such a scenario, the US exports to China what Ricardo Hausmann and Federico Sturzenegger have dubbed “dark matter” (unaccounted assets, such as knowledge, which US corporations export through their investments), while China exports consumer goods and services to the US. But would China be happy with this division of labor? China’s leaders should think hard about this question now – before it is too late to change the situation.
China Penalizes Two Brokerages in Crackdown on IPO Fraud – Bloomberg The China Securities Regulatory Commission plans to fine Minsheng Securities Co. 2 million yuan ($326,024) for failed due diligence in Shanxi Tianneng Technology Co.’s bid to list shares in 2011 and confiscate the 1 million yuan fee it earned from the deal, the agency said on its website today. Nanjing Securities Co. will be given a warning for a similar offense committed when it advised Guangdong Xindadi Biotechnology Co. in 2012, the CSRC said. The agency said both IPOs were pulled after reports of fraud were published by unidentified media.
The Return of the Red Flag-Caijing With 30% of China’s public servants using foreign car models like Audis, the central government’s efforts to bolster Hongqi popularity appear to be based not just on a desire to reclaim market shares, but as a boost to national pride too. FAW, the producers of the Hongqi, want to invest 1.98 billion yuan to produce 30,000 new Hongqis over the next year. The new 5th generation series exhibited in the 2013 Shanghai Autoshow consisted of the L9, L7, and L5, all of which look like a sleeker version of a retro Rolls Royce with eccentric detailing.The L9 is a civilian version of the bullet-proof, 400 horsepower L9 that Hu Jin Tao previously sported. ‘Civilian’ seems optimistic, though: selling for £1 million, their priciest model is the most expensive Chinese car. Eyebrows cannot but raise, therefore, at the government’s claim that a key motivation in producing these beasts is to avoid extravagance.
北京房产中介我爱我家因签阴阳合同被取消网签资格 新华社——经济参考网 记者上午获悉，朝阳区房管局对北京我爱我家房地产经纪有限公司开出处罚决定书，并处3万元的罚款。 朝阳区房管局的一份“行政处罚决定书”显示，2012年11月20日，该局行政执法人员根据有关部门提供的案件线索，依法向“我爱我家”调取2012年7月与卖房人黄某和买房人孙某签订的《居间服务合同》，另外还包括黄某、孙某于同年7月1日及8月23日签订的两份《北京市存量房房屋买卖合同》。
住建部官员：房产税不急于扩围 限购仍是第一选择_财经频道_一财网 今年5月底，国务院明确提出将扩大房产税改革试点范围，这让“房产税扩容”的话题再次升温。
三地主VS政府 前海土地“结” – 经济观察网 － 专业财经新闻网站 导语：尽管前海是张白纸，但由于土地权属的问题，即便是前海管理局，也不能在上面随意“作画”。
The Romantic Advantage – NYTimes–David Brooks does David Brooks understand how offensive it is to be so flip about an event that destroyed millions of lives? // It seems likely that the Chinese will require a few more cultural revolutions before it can brand effectively and compete at the top of the economic food chain. At some point, if you are going to be the world’s leading economy, you have to establish relationships with consumers. You have to put aside the things that undermine trust, like intellectual property theft and cyberterrorism, and create the sorts of brands that inspire affection and fantasy. Until it can do this, China may statistically possess the world’s largest economy, but it will not be a particularly consequential one.
POLITICS AND LAW
Sina testing subtle censorship ahead of Tiananmen anniversary | GreatFire.org During the morning hours of May 31, Sina completely abandoned its old style, explicit approach to censorship, which displayed a message but no search results: “According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results for [the blocked keyword] can not be displayed.” No, Sina has not suddenly decided to fully support freedom of speech. On the contrary, it would appear that Sina is using more advanced and subtler methods to censor search results. All keywords mentioned below are normally explicitly and completely blocked. But each behaved a little bit differently on the morning of May 31.
China’s Tiananmen Mothers criticize Xi for lack of reforms | Reuters A group of families demanding justice for the victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have denounced new Chinese President Xi Jinping for failing to launch political reforms, saying he was taking China “backwards towards Maoist orthodoxy”.
Investor Journal: Xi Jinping is not “cool” – China Media Project Let Us Continue to Care About Politics–Investor Journal–I don’t know whether people would agree with me or not if I said that Weibo and WeChat today are like the Democracy Wall thirty years ago, or like what we saw at Sanjiaodi (三角地) on the Peking University campus in the early summer of 1989. But the way I see it, the war of words last week between Weibo and official media over “constitutionalism” was of an intensity nothing short of, and perhaps surpassing, that we saw [in 1989] during the controversy caused by the World Economic Herald. At that time, it was possible for official mouthpiece [newspapers] to trumpet their own theories after summarily shutting the door on [the World Economic Herald].
Female official’s “rocketing promotions” being probed – Xinhua | English.news.cn The city government of Changde has decided to set up a team to probe the promotions of Liu Qiong, deputy secretary of the Shimen County committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), an official from Changde’s publicity bureau told Xinhua on Saturday. The case of Liu, 34, attracted attention after a microblogger revealed that she had been appointed a vice township head at the age of 23, and after rounds of promotions, was shot to her current post in the Shimen County government. The microblogger said Liu only has a high school degree, attributing her success to the influence of her father, a former senior official in Changde, which administers Shimen.
每周舆评：媒体形象堪忧 国人文明待建-财经网 环球时报记者维权遇冷反映媒体形象触礁，真实、专业、自律、价值观，影响媒体网络形象。奉劝：媒体人怎样，媒体便怎样。“到此一游”留言暴露国人文明素养，年龄、身份、地位、国籍，皆非维护陋习借口。切记：你是什么，中国便是什么
邓聿文：“党内立法法”预期效应有多大？-财经网 比起党法大于国法来，笔者其实担忧的是党内“立法法”并不能有效规范和约束党内立法的混乱状况，就像国家的立法法未能有效约束国家立法的混乱状况，推进法治建设一样
Expert praises intra-party management rules – Xinhua | English.news.cn The CPC Central Committee published two documents on Monday that will help regulate the formation of CPC rules, which act as a form of legislation within the CPC, in order to improve internal management and sharpen intra-party supervision. The documents will help the CPC improve the governance in accordance with the law, said Jiang Ming’an, a professor from the Law School of Peking University, in an article published in the Friday edition of the People’s Daily, the CPC’s flagship newspaper.
Xi stresses safety for livelihoods, national harmony – Xinhua | English.news.cn Chinese president Xi Jinping has urged a deepening of a national campaign to strengthen safety, which he described as a basic premise for people’s health as well as national development. Xi’s remarks were included in his written instruction publicized for a Friday meeting on “Safe China,” a national campaign to ensure civilian and national security. At the meeting, Meng Jianzhu, secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged a focus on prominent issues that induce intense public concern and affect social harmony and stability.
Downsizing the Party – CHINA – Frontpage – Globaltimes.cn At a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on January 28, it was emphasized that the CPC should build a team of “proper size” and that unqualified members should get the boot. This is viewed as part of a series of efforts since Xi Jinping took the leadership position of the CPC to rectify the working style of the Party and to crack down on corruption. Party scholars were quick to respond with suggestions of an “exit mechanism” in order to kick out unqualified members, while acknowledging this would prove to be a daunting task.
原中央党校副校长:作风问题核心是党群关系问题|作风|中央党校|校长_新浪新闻 群众路线是实现党的思想路线、政治路线、组织路线的根本工作路线。增强群众观点、自觉实践群众观点，需要切实摆正位置、端正态度，转变官僚主义习气的工作作风，建立干部在群众中开展工作、工作在群众中开展的机制。怎样做到这一点？我们约请了中央党校原副校长杨春贵来解答这一问题。
三个自信底气不足 中共深陷“新两个凡是”_中国_多维新闻网 纵观过去一周这场讨论，呈现出的却是各说各话的诡异态势，似乎各方的“箭”击中的都不是敌方的“的”，乱箭横飞却好像不在一个时空。具体而言，宣称宪政属于资本主义而非社会主义的“倒宪派”，其主强调突出资本主义“万恶”的本质，连带着“宪政”也被一同打入冷宫。这其中不单单是杨晓青深信“宪政”只能姓资不能姓社，其拥簇者也坚信：凡是“宪政”，皆为资本主义的，与社会主义无关。上海金融与法律研究院研究员傅蔚冈就表示：“从逻辑看，宪政和社会主义是根本对立的，这一点人大杨晓青教授已经说的很清楚；而从经验层面上看，到目前为止没有社会主义国家实行过宪政，而宪政国家也都不是社会主义。在这个意义上，我支持杨晓青教授，因为她说了句大实话。”
习近平不谈“三个代表” 或重构中共理论体系_中国_多维新闻网【多维新闻】稍早前，中共公布5月4日下达了《关于加强高校青年教师思想政治工作的16条指导意见》，该通知曾一度被认为与5月初流传的旨在遏制自由派思想蔓延的高校“七不讲”有莫大的关系。而更为重要的是，这份《指导意见》在提出要“深入开展马克思列宁主义、毛泽东思想、中国特色社会主义理论体系教育，深入学习实践科学发展观”时，同时反复重申习近平上位后提出的“中国梦”的政治构想，但首次未公开点名邓小平理论以及江泽民的“三个代表”。
New Contracts for Civil Servants to go National – Economic Observer The new contract system allows for more flexibility in the process of hiring officials. Applicants can be recruited directly and might be able to avoid the extended series of exams and interviews that others hoping to land a public service job are forced to go through. The new system also differs from existing hiring practices in relation to how the salary package for such civil servants are determined. Traditionally, renumeration for most civil service positions are centrally determined according to their level. Under these new fixed-term contracts, employees enter into a wage agreement with the department hiring them and thus have more room to negotiate. The final salary of public servants that have been recruited according to the new contract system are determined by the contract they sign with the department.
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
China accuses U.S. of ‘prejudice’ over 1989 protest comments | Reuters China accused the United States of “prejudice” on Saturday after the U.S. State Department renewed a call for Beijing to fully account for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in June 1989. The United States should “immediately rectify its wrongdoings and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs so as not to sabotage China-U.S. relations”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in an English-language statement released via the official Xinhua news agency.
Chinese general reveals ‘strategy’ for Panatag takeover | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com A Chinese military general has revealed their strategy to take over Panatag Shoal (Scarborough) off Zambales province. China Daily Mail reported that in a recent television interview, Major General Zhang Zhaozhong said that China’s navy has been wrapping the disputed island like a “cabbage” with warships.
USS Shiloh Visits Zhanjiang, China | Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet USS Shiloh (CG 67) arrived at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA(N)) South Sea Fleet base in in Zhanjiang for a port visit, May 30. The port visit to China is part of a series of military-to-military exchanges that are scheduled to take place this year between the two countries. On the schedule of events are a PLA(N) hosted reception at the South Sea Fleet headquarters, ship-to-ship tours, sporting events and community service projects. Shiloh Commanding Officer Capt. James T. Jones will also meet with the Vice Mayor of Zhanjiang.
张高丽突任中新理事会中方主席 外界惊讶_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei says big deal that Zhang Gaoli now has direct responsibility for China-Singapore relationship // 【多维新闻】中共政治局常委中排名第七的常务副总理张高丽，被新任命为中新双边合作理事会中方主席。这是中方首次委任中共政治局常委及排名第一的副总理担任联合委员会的中方主席，人选层级明显升格，中共政情观察家们都表示惊讶。 张高丽5月28日与新加坡副总理兼财政部长尚达曼在人民大会堂会面。新加坡外交部在会后发布文告披露上述信息。中新双边合作理事会在2003年成立时，当时的中方主席是副总理吴仪，到了2008年时，出任这个职位的是王岐山。他们当时都只是普通的副总理兼政治局委员。
Australia needs $A at US70¢: Australian Financial Review Professor Ross Garnaut last Tuesday gave a landmark speech in which he warned that two decades of economic prosperity had entrenched a culture ill-equipped to make the hard choices needed to allow the economy to boost competitiveness and provide growth once the mining boom is over.Elaborating on that speech, Professor Garnaut, a China expert and former Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s economic adviser, said that the mining boom had peaked in 2011
Chinese man pleads guilty over bid to export U.S. weapons-grade carbon fiber | Reuters A Chinese man pleaded guilty to trying to export weapons-grade carbon fiber to China from the United States, after getting caught in a cyber-sting and packing the material in a plain brown box that prosecutors said was labeled “clothing.” Lisong Ma, 34, entered his plea on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon in Brooklyn, New York. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, and four to five years under recommended federal sentencing guidelines. // 江苏商人在美国购买碳纤维被当成间谍抓获
China Matters: China Has a Medium-Sized Financial Anvil It May Want to Share With Japan That the PRC has in its possession a $200 billion anvil that it can toss to the Japanese financial markets if it decides it would like to see is Abe grappling with a Chinese selloff on top of the yield-spiking factors already roiling Japanese bond prices… I’m inclined towards 3. I have a feeling that China has decided that, in the face of US military superiority, Abe’s success in building strategic ties with India as well as China’s other, smaller regional antagonists, and advances in the anti-China Trans Pacific Partnership alliance of Pacific democracies (plus Vietnam and Myanmar) a key weapon for the PRC as it confronts the pivot is that China is a creditor nation—and the US and Japan are debt superpowers // perhaps this is a risk to Japan, or at least China wants Japan and the rest of the world to believe it is a risk to Japan, but at this point it is hard to believe the “China debt threat” meme when it comes to the US. the numbers just do not support it
India gets close to Japan at its own peril – OP-ED – Asian Review – Globaltimes.cn Given the long-lasting Diaoyu Islands dispute and China-India border confrontation, there may be some tacit understanding in strategic cooperation between India and Japan. However, India should keep sober over the Abe administration’s vicious intentions of denying the World Anti-Fascism War as a just war. East Asian countries that were the victims of the World War II won’t indulge Japan. Overheated strategic cooperation with the Abe administration can only bring trouble to India and threaten its relationships with the relevant East Asian countries. Abe sees Radhabinod Pal, an Indian jurist that insisted all Japanese defendants were not guilty at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East’s trials of Japanese war crimes committed during World War II, as a friend. This is indeed a satire of a “just and righteous” India.
China Matters: India Places Its Asian Bet on Japan…and Asian Neo-Nationalism? In a dismaying week for the PRC, India turned its back on China…and thereby drifted further away from the narrative of Japanese criminal aggression in World War II that China and the United States have exploited for the last half century. I don’t know if there is a term in the diplomatic lexicon for “deep tongue kiss accompanied by groans of mutual fulfillment”, but if there is, it seems it would be illustrated by the encounter between Indian President Manmohan Singh and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo May 27-29, 2013.
China’s Envoy Tacks With Winds Of Change In Myanmar (Burma) – ForbesBeijing’s new man in Myanmar is Yang Houlan, whose previous postings include ambassadorships in Kabul and Kathmandu. Yang arrived in March and has met with Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, and civil society activists as well as government officials. He says that his job is to improve relations with all sides in Myanmar and correct “misunderstandings” about China’s economic interests. “Myanmar is into a transitional period. There’s a new situation we have to face,” he says. Speaking in English during an hour-long interview on May 23, he conceded that Chinese state-owned enterprises shared some blame for the negative views of China held in Myanmar.
Speak More Chinese, Ambassador Tells Thais – NYTimes.com Some Thai police are corrupt and the justice system is slow, but perhaps more importantly, not enough Thais speak Chinese – that’s the gist of “a long list” of complaints by China’s Ambassador to Thailand, Guan Mu, delivered at a meeting with Thai officials Wednesday on the popular vacation island of Phuket, the Phuket News reported.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
Taiwan’s students, scholars visited Taiping Island | Politics | FOCUS TAIWAN – CNA ENGLISH NEWS A group of Taiwanese graduate students and professors recently visited Taiping Island in the South China Sea under Navy escort in a move aimed at highlighting the Republic of China’s sovereignty over the Spratly Island chain, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Friday. The 8-day visit by the group of 18 students and two teachers was part of a workshop on the Spratlys, first held in 2011, the MND said in a statement. Taiping Island is the biggest island in the chain.
TECH AND MEDIA
菜鸟计划：马云还没想清楚 – 经济观察网 － 专业财经新闻网站 对于阿里的战略而言，在解决了信息流、资金流之后，马云要为电商版图的物流突围找到支点，但在物流上摸索五年的阿里巴巴是否真的找到了一条解决社会化电商的绝佳路径却还是个未知数。“社会化物流基础设施建设，阿里巴巴想了10年，也做了10年，现在决定傻傻地再做10年。”马云说。在菜鸟内部董事会上，马云已经告诫所有股东，未来8-10年可能都不会有收益。
电商征税“妖魔化”：5%误传背后的真相|电商|征税|淘宝_互联网_新浪科技_新浪网 记者采访了淘宝方面，他们表示，“据我们了解，国家相关部门对电商征税一事非常谨慎，目前还在进行调研，我们也一直积极配合政府部门研究探讨，但目前并没有任何税收新政策出台。”
Tencent Adds Literature Website to Its Offerings – Caixin Internet giant Tencent Inc. and the founders of a major literature website said on May 30 they started a new such site, Chuangshi.qq.com. The new site is already the second largest online literature website after Qidian.com in the numbers of online writers and daily contributions, said Yang Chen, editor-in-chief at Chuangshi. Yang is the former deputy director of Qidian, a website that publishes original fiction by online writers. In 2004, Qidian was acquired by Shanda Corp. and made a wholly owned subsidiary of Cloudary Corp., the online literature subsidiary of Shanda. Yang and Luo Li, another Qidian founder, left the website in January. Then in March, another Qidian founder, Wu Wenhui, and dozens of editors resigned from Qidian. On May 27, Luo was detained in Shanghai over bribes linked to copyright deals, a source close to him said.
MSN China Manager Upbeat About Future: MSN Not Dead Yet-Caijing MSN is not dead yet, said general manager of MSN China who remains upbeat about MSN’s outlook as the service is expected to integrate with win 8, Microsoft’s latest version of operating system. “We heard a lot of people saying MSN is dying, but we’re not,” Liu Zhenyu said Thursday, “It’s just that the MSN messenger is outdated and about to be replaced by next-generation products.” Liu said Microsoft is considering offering users new interacted communication experiences rather than the traditional information push.
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Sinica Podcast–The Abuse of Children we turn our gaze to the plight of the nation’s children, and the stories of child abuse and maltreatment which have filled the mainland press for the last several weeks. And with the news today of child abuse protester Ye Haiyan’s own detention and corporal punishment our core question could not be more timely: is there something about Chinese culture that has encouraged society to sweep this problem under the rug? Jeremy Goldkorn is hosting this episode solo, joined by two excellent guests: the incomparable Tania Branigan who writes for The Guardian, and Leta Hong Fincher, an American academic with a research interest in women’s issues in China
Identical twins adopted from China by two different Ontario families grow up 400 km apart | Toronto Star When Lily and Gillian’s adoptive parents made the startling discovery, they vowed to raise the girls as sisters.
Chimerica; Race – review | Stage | The Observer Seriousness and showmanship, giant themes and whirling projections, come together in Chimerica. Lucy Kirkwood’s new play has eyes that are bigger than its stomach. Still, things are much better (and much rarer) that way round. Set in Beijing and Manhattan, sliding between the last US election and the moment when tanks rolled towards demonstrators in Tiananmen Square 24 years ago, it tackles the veracity of photojournalism, the attempted infiltration of China’s market by western companies, the rise of air pollution and the suppression of news. Its most irritating feature is the tricksy title – from historian Niall Ferguson, who coined the word in The Ascent of Money. Its best things are its least pretentious features: narrative range and, far too unusual in the theatre, thriller drive. // trailer
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH
Beijing’s 2nd H7N9 patient discharged – Xinhua | English.news.cn Beijing’s second patient with the H7N9 strain of bird flu has been discharged from the hospital after showing negative test results, health authorities in Beijing said on Friday. The Beijing municipal health bureau confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that a six-year-old boy had contracted the disease.
China reports 38th H7N9 death – Xinhua | English.news.cn A man in Shanghai died from the H7N9 strain of bird flu on Friday, local health authorities said, raising the death toll from the virus in China’s mainland to 38. The 59 year old, surnamed Shen, died on Friday afternoon, nearly two months after being confirmed as infected with the virus
With Funds Flowing In, Health-care Firms Are Hale and Hearty – Caixin Even in a sector that has seen private money pouring in over the last few years, the latest fund raising of a Chinese health-care company caused pulses to race. IKang Guobin Health Care Group, a health-care service provider, said in April it had raised US$ 100 million from investment bank Goldman Sachs and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC). That set the bar so high it was unlikely to be exceeded by a competitor, whether in an initial public offering or through a re-financing, said Zhang Ligang, a Harvard graduate who founded IKang, the predecessor of IKang Guobin, in 2000. However, the company’s biggest rival, Ciming Health Checkup Management Group, is trying to come close. Last July, it applied to go public in Shenzhen with a plan to raise 500 to 600 million yuan. That is still lower than US$ 100 million at current exchange rates. The company’s previous fund raisings were all below 100 million yuan. One month later, another competitor, Meinian Onehealth Healthcare (Group) Co., sold 13.5 percent of its shares to Carlyle Group, a top American alternative asset management company. Analysts suspect the deal was worth about 200 to 250 million yuan. The three companies have generally been viewed as the top three players in the country’s private health-care market
In Dark Portrait of China’s Elderly, a Bright Spot – China Real Time Report – WSJ But speaking at the launch in Beijing on Friday, the leaders of the study — based on a nation-wide survey of 17,708 individuals, and completed with the help of top academics from around the world — said it’s not all bad news. One important factor in the disabilities and depression suffered by many of China’s elderly is trauma experienced in early life: Chinese people over 60 grew up with famine in the 1950s and the tumult of the Cultural Revolution, and that leaves a mark.
China’s Growing Ranks of Elderly Beset by Depression, Study Says – Bloomberg China’s old people are plagued by depression, illness and poverty, a survey showed, illustrating the challenge the country faces as its restrictive family-planning policy results in a surge in the elderly population. Among people 60 years old and over, 22.9 percent, or 42.4 million, live on annual income of less than 3,200 yuan ($520), compared to 15.1 percent of people age 45 to 59, according to the survey, conducted in 2011-2012 by a team of academics from China, the U.S. and the World Bank which surveyed 17,708 people across China.
If China Lives Like America: Q. and A. with Craig Simons : The New Yorker We are only beginning to tally the global impact of converting the resources of the planet into the wealth that has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people from poverty. If a population of 1.3 billion approaches the lifestyle we pioneered, how will that impact the environment beyond China’s own borders? Craig Simons was a journalist in China from 2001 until 2009; he spent much of the next three years traveling the globe, studying China’s effect on the environment. (His book, “The Devouring Dragon,” was published in March by St. Martin’s Press.) I asked him about what he learned on an odyssey that took him from the coal mines of Colorado to India’s tiger country and a forest in Papua New Guinea.
FOOD AND TRAVEL
Scotch Makers Target China With Premium Bottles – Scene Asia – WSJ The Macallan said its sales have been unaffected by China’s anti-corruption and gift-giving measures, maintaining that growth in the country remains in the “double digits.” Mr. Grier attributed the Macallan’s continued growth to its measured approach to expansion. The brand’s emphasis, he said, is on top private clubs, bars and wine boutiques in the largest cities, with limit the quantities sold. Edrington Group, which owns Macallan, currently holds second place in China for single-malt whiskies with a 24% share, behind the 34% share held by William Grant & Sons, which owns the whisky label Grant’s, according to Euromonitor.
JOBS AND EVENTS
Head of Business Development, Beijing at Studio Output in Beijing City, China – Job | LinkedIn We are Studio Output – a creative agency which believes in bright ideas, for inspiring brands to connect with audiences. We work as one team across two studios, serving clients across the UK and beyond. Formed by three partners in 2002, we’ve been growing steadily ever since.