Just links today:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

China to Avoid ‘Wide Fluctuations’ in Economy, Li Says – Bloomberg Li’s comments, the first made public since the National Bureau of Statistics reported that economic growth slowed for a second quarter, signal he won’t let expansion slow too much, without indicating any immediate plans for stimulus. Gross domestic product rose 7.5 percent in the April-to-June period from a year earlier, putting at risk the official full-year target for the same pace. Last month, Li’s government engineered a stress test on banks that prompted the nation’s broadest measure of credit to fall to a 14-month low in an interbank cash squeeze. China’s lack of transparency became a cause of worldwide concern as it rocked bond and commodity markets and helped wipe out $4.5 trillion in global equity value. // interesting that Bloomberg says “engineered a stress test”…there is debate about this among analysts, though it is what i heard from several sources in beijing, some who might even actually know something…perhaps someday we will learn what really happened

Related: 人民日报-如何看待当前中国经济形势（如何看待宏观经济形势和政策措施） ——访国家发改委宏观经济研究院常务副院长王一鸣 编者按：当前我国经济运行总体平稳，增速仍然保持在合理区间，不仅是全球经济增长的领跑者，也是全球经济复苏和发展的重要贡献者。根据中央关于今年经济工作的方针，新一届政府坚持稳中有进、稳中有为，采取了一系列政策措施，稳增长、控通胀、防风险，保证了经济的持续健康发展。本报从今天起推出“如何看待宏观经济形势和政策措施”系列报道，敬请关注。//first in a series of people’s daily articles on how to view the macro economic situation and policy measures…today’s an interview w NDRC researcher/official Wang Yiming

Related:  [视频]李克强主持召开经济形势专家和企业负责人座谈会强调 正确认识形势 科学统筹施策 推动经济持续健康发展_新闻频道_央视网 李克强说，从国内外实践看，经济运行出现一定波动，有客观必然性。宏观调控的主要目的就是要避免经济大起大落，使经济运行保持在合理区间。其“下限”就是稳增长、保就业，“上限”就是防范通货膨胀。今年要完成中央经济工作会议确定的全年经济社会发展的主要任务。对此，我们有信心、有条件、有能力，但也要付出许多努力。

Related: Domestic Consumption Disappoints as China’s GDP Slows – WSJ.com  China’s push to get consumers to open their wallets more and refocus the economy on domestic consumption is stalling, contributing to lower growth in the second quarter and forecasts of even slower momentum ahead. A slew of data released on Monday showed that disposable income growth for urban households slowed to 6.5% in the first half compared with a year ago, down from 9.7% growth in the first half of 2012 and below the growth rate of the economy as a whole. That contributed to a slide in the share of consumption in China’s growth—the reverse of the government’s plans.

Four Drugmakers Face China Probes as Glaxo Woes Widen – Bloomberg   China is investigating at least four multinational drugmakers as it widens its probe of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), according to a lawyer in Hong Kong whose firm advises companies on cross-border anti-corruption. The investigations point to an increased targeting of the pharmaceutical industry in corruption probes as the world’s most populous country faces rising health-care costs and seeks to lower drug prices. While the drugmakers are being examined by local regulators, the results may draw added questions from officials in Beijing and scrutiny by the U.S. government under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act…the country has been moving aggressively to get drugmakers to lower prices as it prepares to widen health coverage, with the top economic planning agency probing the costs and prices of 60 drugmakers including Glaxo, Merck, Novartis AG and Baxter International Inc.

Related: 人民日报-强化跨国公司监管体系 钟 声 Zhong Sheng weighs in on the Glaxo Smith Kline corruption case and MNCs operating in China in general// 一大批跨国公司来华投资发展，为中国经济社会发展作出了重要贡献。中国欢迎全球优秀企业来华兴业，参与中国现代化进程，共享中国改革发展成果。中国政府严肃查办商业贿赂案件的力度不会减，一如既往保护投资者合法权益的努力同样也不会减。

Related: China Steps Up Pressure on Glaxo – WSJ.com China’s powerful state-run broadcaster on late Monday and Tuesday aired an interview with Liang Hong, Glaxo’s China vice president and operations manager, who is one of four Chinese executives detained as part of a Chinese bribery probe into the company. Mr. Liang described for viewers of China Central Television how staffers would allegedly organize conferences that never happened and divert the money to bribe government officials, hospitals and medical personnel to get them to use Glaxo’s products.

Constitution Debate Holds Broader Reform Implications -Caijing  very interesting interview and article in this week’s issue of Caijing about the “constitutionalism” debates…get the sense that there was more but the editorscould not publish everything//  A series of articles published since May 21 by the Chinese Communist Party’s bi-weekly magazine Red Flag arguing against the establishment of constitutional government in China have triggered widespread media speculation and intensive academic discussions.  Three schools of thought have arisen as a result of the ongoing debate: “anti-constitutionalists” who oppose any form of constitutional government in China, those who support the establishment of socialist constitutional government, and those who believe socialism and constitutionalism are incompatible, as represented by Peking University Law School Professor He Weifang and East China University of Political Science and Law Professor Zhang Xuezhong. The latter faction argues in favor of drawing up a new constitution.  The core differences between the three viewpoints reflect diverging opinions about China’s future political reform path.

China’s Zhu Changhong Helps Steer Nation’s Currency Reserves – WSJ.com A 43-year-old former physicist, Mr. Zhu has made one surprising turn after another in his career. At 20 years old, he moved from impoverished Anhui province to the University of Chicago to study quantum physics, but he then chucked a promising academic career to become a bond trader. He eventually ended up as the right-hand man to investor Bill Gross at Allianz SE’s ALV.XE -1.41% Pacific Investment Management Co., the giant investment firm, according to people familiar with Mr. Zhu’s work. There, Mr. Zhu took on the trappings of the American dream, buying two luxury homes in California and a condo in Las Vegas, according to U.S. property records. But he left that life behind to return to China in late 2009 to become the chief investment officer at SAFE’s reserves-management department.

人民日报-新型城镇化该怎样推进（互动天地）Today’s People’s Daily page 7 theory page all urbanization // 编者的话 近年来，学术理论界围绕推进新型城镇化开展了大量研究，取得了不少共识，但在一些重要问题上也存在不同看法。本期“互动天地”刊登的两篇文章探讨了在我国发展新阶段怎样更好推进城镇化的问题，各自的论述都持之有据，但又有不一致甚至相冲突之处。比如，推进城镇化究竟应以大城市为主，还是重点发展农村小城镇？应着力解决进城农民工的市民化问题，还是让农民就地享受市民待遇？应避免政府主导城镇化，还是必须发挥政府的主导作用？相信这样的学术讨论和争鸣有助于深化人们的认识、推动相关的研究。

Related: Senior official underscores high-quality urbanization – Xinhua  apparently still no formal plan, seems to be still under real debate// China’s top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng on Tuesday underlined the significance of coordinated development in raising the quality of urbanization. Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said at a CPPCC meeting that China should coordinate efforts of industrialization, informatization and agricultural modernization in seeking high-quality urbanization. The country’s urbanization drive should be human-oriented to provide people with better production and living conditions, Yu said.

“环首都雾霾圈”谁之责 深度报道——经济参考网 Economic Information special report on the causes of the pollution surrounding and covering Beijing // 河北，全国十大污染城市占据七个，成为中国最大的污染源，亦是北京雾霾难散的重要原因。王跃思说，在各类污染物的初始排放源中，“外来输送”为第二大污染源，对北京PM2.5的贡献率为19%。这个长期被视为北京“护城河”和“输血袋”的省份，一方面乐于享受承接北京重化工业创造的经济政绩、财政收入、社会就业，一方面又不满北京转移过来的二手车、废旧塑料带来的大气污染。 更鲜为人知的是，记者近日在河北省廊坊市、保定市下辖6个区县调研时发现，部分村镇仍停留在上个世纪80年代“村村点火、户户冒烟”的工业化前期阶段，北京周边一些村镇的干部将治理本地污染、区域联防联控看作是“为北京服务”，甚至产生“我就是要直排，不想帮北京治污”的极端心理。

Related: 用硬指标完成大气治理硬任务 按照清洁空气行动计划，到2017年PM2.5的年均浓度要比2012年下降25%以上，而这个过程发达国家走了几十年，工作任务异常艰巨。在人民群众迫切需要良好的生态环境时，我们责无旁贷，必须迎难而上，下更大的决心，以时不我待、只争朝夕的精神，坚决打赢环境治理这场硬仗。要下更大决心抓好生态环境建设！北京要把治理大气污染作为事关群众切身利益、事关国家形象、事关首都可持续发展的大事，全市动员、全力以赴，务求不断取得新成效。——中共中央政治局委员、北京市委书记郭金龙7月16日在北京市上半年经济形势分析会上说, 本报记者 朱竞若整理

Related: 高清：石家庄上半年空气质量一级优为0天 严重污染40天以上–图片频道–人民网 Shijiazhuang had 0 days of level 1 clean air days in the first half of 2013, and 40 of serious or worse pollution

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Graphics: Perusing Policies -Caixin New premier Li Keqiang’s economic policies have been referred to as ‘Likonomics’ and Caixin talked to a number of experts to find out what this entails

Q2 Land Price Picks up in Most Chinese Cities -Caijing  Prices of residential lands in 94 of the 105 cities monitored have seen rises on a quarterly basis, said the ministry Tuesday on its website. Nine of the 94 cities recorded a quarterly growth above 10% while 40 cities rose by over 5%. Land prices in only 6 cities declined, compared with 12 in the previous quarter.

地方经济困顿半年报_杂志频道_财新网中央层面，大的政策调整难期，改革是主要选择；地方在勒紧腰带、盘活存量的同时，部分省区开始调整完善省以下财政体制

房地产泡沫集中三四线城市–财经–人民网 on new CRIC report arguing real estate bubble concentrated in third and fourth tier cities // 对此，业内人士表示，近两年三四线城市房地产待售存量一直处于较高水平，在人口外流的背景下，供大于求现象更加突出。与此同时，在地方财政仍主要依靠卖地的背景下，卖地冲动难以遏制。因此，应警惕由需求下降带来的楼市区域性风险。16日，克而瑞信息集团(C R IC)研究中心发布《中国城市发展前景与风险排行榜》。榜单显示，甘肃陇南、武威、酒泉、定西及陕西延安等地位列房地产风险城市前几位。值得注意的是，风险排名前五十的城市均是三四线城市。

CRIC研究中心–克而瑞研究中心《城市房地产发展风险排行榜》发布 CRIC release on the report, plus link to download 

中国城市房地产市场风险排行榜：风险集中西北内陆(组图)-搜狐财经 CRIC report ranks the Chinese cities most at risk of real estate bubble // 克而瑞研究中心在2012年的研究基础之上，继续将研究对象覆盖全国286个地级以上市，同时更进一步完善了分析方法，综合运用SPSS因子分析、相关性分析、回归分析、Ahp层次分析、 德尔菲法等多种数学工具，引进了“改善性需求”、“房价波动指数”等指标，并重点考核购买能力、供求关系等主导市场风险的内生变量，结合GIS空间分析，对房地产市场风险进行定量化研究，对不同城市能级的风险来源予以剖析。

China Economic Watch | The Price of Power: the New Chinese Leadership Begins Rebalancing with Resource Prices Any distortions lowering the price of energy favor industry because that sector is by far the largest user of energy in China. In 2012, the industrial sector consumed 70.8 percent of all energy, compared with only 16.5 percent by the service sector and 11 percent by households. More market-based pricing leading to higher energy costs would thus serve to support China’s rebalancing by redistributing economic resources away from the industrial sector toward households and services.

China Economic Watch | China’s Spotty Record on Inflation Targeting As we’ve mentioned before, negative real interest rates are at the heart of many the distortions in the Chinese economy. Setting the benchmark rate below the inflation target confirms that this was by design rather than by accident. As China considers moving forward with financial reform this year, setting deposit rates at a healthy level above expected inflation should be a key goal. This is a basic necessity to increase the income of China’s savers, especially those without access to sophisticated alternatives to savings deposits.  Until that happens, the large and regressive transfer from ordinary savers to banks and corporate borrowers will continue.

Xiao Gang: stressed out? | beyondbrics The reaction among Chinese netizens has been mostly one of sympathy. “It’s really not easy. I heard chairman Xiao’s back always hurts, he can’t even sit well for a time,” a Sino Weibo user named Xinghuo Caijing said in a comment to Xiao’s new photo. “He spared no efforts for his new job.”

多省官员进京“喊穷”拜会财政部求支持 | 每经网 National Business Daily says some provincial finance officials coming to Beijing pleading poverty and lobbying finance ministry for support // 在全国财政收入增速持续放缓的背景下，部分省市一把手对财政部的拜会显得意味深长。有专家向《每日经济新闻》记者表示，中央对地方财政的支持，除了资金还有政策，但也不排除是为了将来财政改革的利益表达诉求。

税总称研究扩大房产税试点范围 市场波澜再起_财经频道_一财网 国家税务总局12日发出的《关于转变职能改进作风更好服务大局的通知》中提出，研究扩大个人住房房产税改革试点范围。

解放利率_杂志频道_财新网 This week’s Caixin cover story on interest and exchange rate reforms, says may happen faster than expected // 人民币利率的完全市场化目标在望，速度超过市场预期

银行必须变革才能应对互联网金融冲击|余额宝|传统银行|变革_新浪财经_新浪网 在互联网金融面前，传统银行运作模式已经落伍。继续守旧只能失去更多客户和市场份额。传统银行面对扑面而来的互联网金融和民资创办银行的巨大冲击，决不能束手待毙。唯一的出来是改革变革、革新创新。

China’s SOEs H1 profits up 7% – Xinhua | English.news.cn China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw their profits rise 7 percent year on year in the first half, picking up from the pace of 6.5 percent in the first five months, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Tuesday. SOEs in the power, electronics, oil refining, construction and property sectors recorded relatively fast profit growth during the six-month period, according to a monthly report from the ministry. The total profits of Chinese SOEs amounted to 1.11 trillion yuan (181.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, said the ministry.

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POLITICS AND LAW

Officials urged to promote “mass line” campaign – Xinhua  “Officials should set an example by studying and bearing in mind the ‘mass line’ guideline, always seeing things from the perspective of the mass,” said a Tuesday statement that summarized inspections made by seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee as part of the campaign.

[视频]中共中央政治局常委到第一批党的群众路线教育实践活动联系点调研指导工作_新闻频道_央视网 CCTV Evening News Tuesday top story on the PBSC members and their visits around the country as part of the mass line education campaign // 7月11日至12日，中共中央总书记习近平到河北省调研指导教育实践活动。在此前后，中共中央政治局其他常委分别前往各自联系点，李克强到广西壮族自治区，张德江到江苏省，俞正声到甘肃省，刘云山到浙江省，王岐山到黑龙江省，张高丽到四川省。常委们深入乡村、城市社区、企业和政府部门，听取广大干部群众意见和建议，实地了解教育实践活动进展情况。常委们还分别主持召开基层干部群众、省直部门座谈会，并听取联系点省区党委和中央督导组的工作汇报，对联系点省区进一步开展好教育实践活动提出要求。

Central Gov’t Agencies Resisted Parts of Shanghai FTZ Plan – Caixin  Feedback documents show CSRC and others disliked certain proposals, but had to back down

Tsinghua law professor: “It does less harm to rape a bargirl than to rape a good woman.” | Offbeat China The highlight is a comment by Yi Yanyou, law professor and director of Tsinghua Evidence Act Center at the law school of Beijing’s Tinghua University, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Yesterday afternoon, in an attempt to defense Li’s lawyers’ “plead innocent” claim, Yi said: “To emphasize that the victim is a bargirl doesn’t mean it’s OK to rape a bargirl. It only means that a bargirl is more likely to agree to a sexual act. Besides, even if it is a rape, to rape a bargirl does less harm than to rape a good woman.”

清华教授回应挺李天一言论惹众怒：网络不理性_新闻_腾讯网 Li Tianyi case getting more and more absurd..qinghua professor yi yanyou says raping a hired female drinking companion working in a ktv not as harmful as raping a woman from a good family…almost sounds like he could be a gop congressional candidate // 晨报讯（记者 王萍）昨天，微博认证为“清华大学法学院证据法中心主任”的易延友副教授，在其微博替李某某的律师辩护时表示：强奸陪酒女比强奸良家妇女危害性要小。此言一出，立即引来网友热议。随即，针对网友质疑，易延友在其微博表示，关于最后一句，修正如下：强奸良家妇女比强奸陪酒女、陪舞女、三陪女、妓女危害性要大。

Tibetan Official to Expose Chinese Abuses from the Inside in Book – SPIEGEL ONLINE how hard will it be to root this person out? // A Tibetan who once believed in the Chinese Communist Party and carved out a career within the Beijing bureaucracy has now decided to publish a damning report of China’s policies in his country. To protect his anonymity, the official, who is known nationwide, met secretly with SPIEGEL at a restaurant in a Chinese provincial city. He hopes that what he has written about the oppression of his people will be published as a book in the West, thereby exerting pressure on leaders in Beijing.

陕西神木县否认财政巨额亏空 书记未调离_网易新闻中心 Shenmu authorities deny rumors of financial problems..picture and videos of the protests

Jiangxi anti-corruption campaigners face trial in co-ordinated crackdown | South China Morning Post Three Chinese activists agitating for officials to disclose their assets will be put on trial, their lawyers said on Tuesday, in a co-ordinated crackdown that underscores the limits of an anti-corruption push by the new government. China has detained at least 15 activists in recent months who were involved in a campaign pushing for officials to publicly disclose their wealth in what rights groups describe as the first major crackdown by the new government on activists.

Chinese mother sent to a labour camp for complaining of daughter’s rape ‘utterly broken by the system’ – Telegraph Tang Hui, the Chinese mother who was locked up in a labour camp for demanding justice for the rape, kidnap and prostitution of her 11-year-old daughter has said her battle against the authorities is far from over.

在更高起点上全面推进平安中国建设_2013/14_求是理论网 Version of Meng Jianzhu’s May 31 speech the lead essay in latest issue of qiushi // 要全面推行网格化服务管理，提高城乡社区服务群众、解决诉求、化解矛盾的能力。要大力加强基础建设，积极推进基础管理与基础信息采集、应用同步开展，努力实现基础工作信息化、信息工作基础化，提高动态化、信息化条件下基础工作水平。要深入开展平安县市、平安乡镇、平安社区、平安家庭等多种形式的基层平安创建活动，深入开展行业平安创建活动，努力以小平安累积大平安…要着力运用信息化提升社会管理服务效能，尽快建立符合我国国情的社会诚信制度体系，加快建设网上管理服务新平台，积极推广“一网办”、“一网通”管理服务新模式，努力为群众提供更加方便快捷、优质高效的服务。要坚持智慧城市发展到什么程度、平安建设就跟进到什么程度，尽可能地把平安建设的规划、要求纳入到智慧城市建设的规划、要求中去，着力推进平安建设与智慧城市建设的深度融合，提升平安建设智能化水平。

进村赶考：苏区干部好作风回来了_2013/14_求是理论网 仲夏季节，怀着对瑞金红色故都的向往和对苏区优良作风的追索，我们调研组一行来到江西赣州，深入市县乡镇，与干部群众攀谈交流，就赣州市正在开展的“送政策、送温暖、送服务”（以下简称“三送”）工作进行调研，颇受教育和启发。

深化对党的作风建设核心问题的认识_2013/14_求是理论网－－李景田 －－中共中央党校常务副校长 当前，从总体上看，我们党的政治优势是强的，广大党员、干部在改革发展稳定各项工作中冲锋陷阵、忘我奉献，发挥了先锋模范作用，赢得了广大人民群众的肯定和拥护。同时，我们必须看到，面对世情、国情、党情的深刻变化，精神懈怠危险、能力不足危险、脱离群众危险、消极腐败危险更加尖锐地摆在全党面前，党内脱离群众的现象大量存在，一些问题还相当严重，集中表现在形式主义、官僚主义、享乐主义和奢靡之风这“四风”上。如果任其发展下去，就会像一座无形的墙把我们党和群众隔开，我们党就会失去根基、失去血脉、失去力量。我们要致力于实现党的十八大提出的“两个一百年”的奋斗目标，实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦，就必须加强党的作风建设，解决好这些问题，最大限度发挥好党密切联系群众的独特优势，舍此别无他途。

人民日报-包头市青山区探索党员退出机制 不合格党员除名动真格 本报记者 贺 勇

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Future bright for PLA’s youngest deputy chief | South China Morning Post Lieutenant General Wang Ning, 57, will succeed General Zhang Qinsheng as one of the army’s five deputy chiefs, a Beijing-based source familiar with military affairs said.

US naval commander warns Asia on use of force | South China Morning Post The comments by Vice-Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet, came amid mounting territorial disputes between China and its neighbours.

Barrage of Cyberattacks Challenges Campus Culture – NYTimes.com will we see some reporting on the extent of NSA penetration of Chinese educational institutions, beyond what Snowden gave to the South China Morning Post when he was currying Chinese favor? // America’s research universities, among the most open and robust centers of information exchange in the world, are increasingly coming under cyberattack, most of it thought to be from China, with millions of hacking attempts weekly. Campuses are being forced to tighten security, constrict their culture of openness and try to determine what has been stolen.

Dropbox used by Chinese hackers to spread malware – NBC News.com But when Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced last week that Dropbox intends to “replace the hard drive,” he probably didn’t expect Chinese hackers to take him up on it so quickly. Comment Crew, the same Chinese cyberespionage team thought to be behind the recent attack on The New York Times, has been using publicly shared Dropbox folders to spread malware, reports Arlington, Va., digital-security firm Cyber Squared.

China Treasuries Holdings Hit Record as Private Investors Sell – Bloomberg China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries (BUSY) rose to a record in May even as net selling by private foreign investors in notes and bonds reached an all-time high, government data showed. China stayed the biggest foreign owner of Treasuries as its holdings increased by $25.2 billion to $1.316 trillion, according to Treasury Department data released today in Washington. Japan, the second-largest holder, cut its holdings to $1.11 trillion. The net long-term portfolio investment outflow was $27.2 billion after a revised decline of $21.8 billion the prior month.

The Chosun Ilbo – Seoul to Ask Beijing to Let N.Korean Re-Defector Go The government wants to ask the Chinese government to send repeat North Korean defector Kim Kwang-ho and his family to South Korea. Kim already defected once in 2009 with his wife and had a daughter here, but for obscure reasons returned to the North and was paraded before the state media in January this year denouncing a South Korean plot to lure him away from the fatherland. But he was later arrested for saying he had had enough to eat in South Korea, and lived under surveillance. He recently fled the North again, this time with his sister- and brother-in-law. They went to China, where they were caught and are now being held.

Beach-storming drill in U.S. hones SDF amphibious edge | The Japan Times The exercises reflect the Liberal Democratic Party’s interest in developing a force similar to the U.S. Marine Corps to counter what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says are China’s attempts to forcibly alter the status quo in maritime disputes in the volatile East and South China seas. With the LDP poised to sweep the July 21 Upper House election, Abe, 58, will have a majority in both Diet chambers to push through legislation.

Int’l Space Science Institute sets up Beijing branch – Xinhua  The International Space Science Institute on Tuesday established its Beijing branch (ISSI-BJ) where scientists from all over the world will conduct advanced multi- and interdisciplinary studies. Launched by the ISSI, based in Bern, Switzerland, and Beijing-based National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, ISSI-BJ will contribute to a deeper understanding of the results from different space missions, ground based observations and laboratory experiments. It will also add value to results through multidisciplinary research.

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

Central Gov’t Sincere about HK’s Universal Suffrage Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Chinese central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, has stressed that the Chinese central government is sincere on achieving universal suffrage in Hong Kong. While speaking to Hong Kong’s lawmakers at an unprecedented luncheon, Zhang said the central government’s active attitude is evident.

China opposes U.S. legislation on Taiwan’s ICAO bid: spokeswoman – Xinhua China firmly opposes U.S. legislation on Taiwan’s bid to join the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including the ICAO, is part of the internal affairs among the Chinese and the Chinese side opposes the interference of any foreign government, organization or individual.

TECH AND MEDIA

Huxiu.me — Here’s what we got after unveiling the decline of user activities at Sina Weibo  A:   I heard Sina had shutdown Huxiu’s weibo account.  B:   How did you know?  A:   Huxiu’s Sina weibo haven’t updated any messages since yesterday afternoon. That’s unusual.  B:   Okay. Well, I just finished a phone call with Sina. They’d decided to halt our Sina weibo for one week.  A:   For real?  B:   Yes. They’re pretty capable of doing anything. But we still have Tecent weibo, Weixin & Twitter. So I’m not really worried about it.

China to launch anti-porn campaign – Xinhua A campaign to crack down on the spread of pornographic and vulgar information on the Internet will be launched in China. The campaign aims to create a “benign Internet environment” for the Chinese youth during the summer holiday, which lasts from July to the end of August, the State Internet Information Office (SIIO), said in a statement Tuesday.

人民日报-国家互联网信息办联合多部门 净化暑期网络环境 summer cleaning of yellow and illegal things on the internet // 　据新华社北京7月16日电 记者获悉：国家互联网信息办联合全国“扫黄打非”办、工业和信息化部、公安部、文化部、国家新闻出版广电总局、国家工商总局、共青团中央、全国妇联等部门，已作出全面工作部署，对网上淫秽色情及低俗信息进行集中清理，坚决打击利用互联网传播淫秽色情及低俗信息行为，为广大青少年营造良好的暑期网络环境。

Reinvigorated CCTV gala brings hope for art scene – Xinhua The organizers of China Central Television’s (CCTV) 2014 Spring Festival Gala have invited renowned film director Feng Xiaogang to take on the role of general director. Zhao Benshan, a well-known comedian, will be deputy director and Zhang Guoli, both an actor and director, will be the artistic consultant. This appointment has caused a sensation among the Chinese public. Will this event represent a milestone in China’s artistic world?

China App Index June 2013 — Wandoujia

Xiaomi H1 2013 Revenue Reaches RMB 13.3 Bln | Marbridge Consulting –Lei Jun, CEO of Beijing-based Android handset developer Xiaomi, has stated that the company’s revenue reached RMB 13.27 bln in H1 2013, with 7.03 mln Xiaomi handsets sold during the six-month period. In contrast, Xiaomi’s total revenue for full-year 2012 was RMB 12.6 bln, with 7.19 mln handsets sold over the year.

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

84岁老人回忆日寇罪行：鬼子根本不拿中国人不当人_资讯频道_凤凰网 disturbing language used in reputable media to describe the Japanese // 1944年，15岁的儿童团团长吴锡波护送一名地下工作者安全转移之后被汉奸告密，惨遭日寇折磨——— 皮鞭抽、棍棒打、灌凉水、电击……忍受非人折磨一个多月，吴锡波宁死不肯吐露地下工作者的去向。一怒之下，日寇将吴锡波送到日本，他又成了一名在日寇皮鞭抽打下从事高强度体力劳动的劳工。日本投降后，吴锡波死里逃生，回到了国内，直到1948年才辗转回到了家乡衡水市勾家村。如今，吴锡波已84岁高龄。老人说：“不说出日寇的罪行，我死不瞑目！”

China Museum Shut Down as Exhibits Shown to Be Forgeries – Bloomberg Forgeries at the museum in Hebei province included an item billed as a five-color porcelain vase from the Tang Dynasty, even though the artistic technique wasn’t invented until hundreds of years later, the Shanghai Daily said in a story today. Another item was purportedly signed in simplified Chinese by an emperor said to have lived more than 3,000 years before the writing system was invented. Residents in nearby village of Erpu had long argued that the party boss who oversaw the collection bought fake items with money raised for the museum, the Global Times newspaper said today. The museum, called Jibaozhai, was shut after photos of its exhibits appeared online with a story questioning their authenticity, the newspaper said.

China’s Parents Reject ‘Brainwashing’ Book List – Tea Leaf Nation The first three books listed were Stories of Marx, China Has a Mao Zedong, and Zhou Enlai: the Early Years. Much like the language of the announcement itself, the list is heavy with Communist ideology and nationalism. A magazine that covers literature in China, iRead, posted the lists on Sina Weibo, an enormously popular microblogging platform. The post was shared over 22,000 times, and drew over 6,000 comments, most calling the lists an attempt to brainwash China’s children.

Child sex abuse: Hilton Munro Arrested in Philippines–The Age Mr Munro was the head of the Zhuhai International School in Zhuhai City in China’s Guangdong province until last month and was formerly a teacher and boarding master at a prestigious boys’ school in Melbourne, Victoria.

Fixing suspicions arise over CSL match – Xinhua | English.news.cn Media and soccer fans in China have raised new suspicions of match-fixing on Monday, following Tianjin Teda’s 3-1 victory over Liaoning Whowin in the Chinese Super League (CSL) on Sunday.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

China struggles to secure uranium supplies after plant halted | Reuters The abrupt cancellation of a $6.5 billion uranium processing project in southern China has left Beijing with a headache as it tries to secure the fuel required to sustain an ambitious nuclear reactor building program. China has been buying stakes in uranium mines in Asia and Africa, but without the capacity to enrich and process the ore it will still be dependent on foreign firms to turn it into useable fue

China Set to Triple Unconventional Gas Supply Amid Price Rise – Bloomberg Supply is estimated to rise to 120 billion cubic meters a year by 2020, China Petroleum & National Corp. said in a newsletter posted on its website, citing Zhang Donghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. China’s unconventional gas supply was 44.5 billion cubic meters in 2012, China National Petroleum Corp. said on its website in March. Domestic gas suppliers in the world’s largest energy user may be encouraged to boost production of tight gas and shale gas after prices were lifted last week, Neil Beveridge, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said last week. The country raised city-gate prices for non-residential users by an average of 15 percent from July 10, the first increase in three years.

Jiangsu seaweed farming linked to algae bloom in Qingdao | South China Morning Post The study by a team from the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggests that relatively small quantities of the seaweed species Ulva prolifera are cut loose from rafts used in the seaweed industry and swept into the Yellow Sea, where they quickly proliferate due to favourable conditions: abundant sunlight and mild temperatures, and rich nutrients in seawater – a result of wastewater discharged into the sea. The study has proved controversial, with researchers

广东韶关农业局就“镉大米不是毒大米”言论致歉-时政频道-新华网 apologies after official says no big deal to eat a little cadmium rice…perhaps this one ate too much, or sucked on lead paint chips as a child? // 广东韶关市农业局16日就该局副局长陈少梦“镉超标大米不是毒大米”言论向公众致歉。该局称，相关言论仅代表陈少梦本人看法，希望通过媒体向全社会不同阶层人士公开致歉。韶关市农业局副局长陈少梦近日在广东省全国人大代表土壤重金属污染专题调研座谈会上，就自己对镉大米的认识发表了看法：镉超标大米并不是毒大米，吃一两年没问题。

China cautions hospitals against inferior implants – Xinhua | English.news.cn uh, fake implantable devices? // China’s health authority on Tuesday issued a circular to caution local government agencies and hospitals against inferior or fake implantable medical devices. Out of concerns over safety and public health, the National Health and Family Planning Commission called for greater efforts to ensure that the government-backed centralized purchasing of implants for public hospitals is done properly.

Pollution Lingers After Steel Mills Close -Caijing  Polluted soil, water and air around the steel mills continue to linger long after factories are shut down or relocated.

BEIJING

Drivers lose out on fee hike|Society|chinadaily.com.cn To address the cab shortage, the city government had promised that taxi drivers would benefit from the fare increase, which took effect on June 10. After the pricing reform, each driver was to earn an extra 1,400 yuan ($228) a month, according to Beijing’s development and reform commission. However, at least three taxi companies had been punished by the transport commission for raising franchise fees for drivers, which are usually around 5,000 yuan.

BOOKS AND LITERATURE

What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th Century China: Tobie Meyer-Fong: Amazon. Drawing upon a rich array of primary sources, What Remains explores the issues that preoccupied Chinese and Western survivors. Individuals, families, and communities grappled with fundamental questions of loyalty and loss as they struggled to rebuild shattered cities, bury the dead, and make sense of the horrors that they had witnessed. Driven by compelling accounts of raw emotion and deep injury, What Remains opens a window to a world described by survivors themselves. By making a place for individual pain, moral and political confusion, religiosity, and emotions, this book transforms our understanding of China’s 19th century and re-contextualizes suffering and loss in China during the 20th century.

H-Net Reviews–Tobie Meyer-Fong. What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th century China. Stanford University Press, Reviewed by Edward A. McCordThe study of war in Chinese history has been increasingly influenced by a “new military history,” which looks beyond campaigns, weapons, and tactics to examine the social, economic, political, and even cultural effects of war. The main manifestation of this turn in Chinese military history has been in the study of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), due to both sustained scholarly interest in this war and the availability of numerous materials that make this research possible. Tobie Meyer-Fong brings this approach, in this outstanding work, to the civil war that accompanied the Taiping Rebellion in nineteenth-century China. While there is no indication that trends in military history influenced Meyer-Fong, her approach nonetheless offers an important new perspective on this topic. The challenge for scholars seeking to describe the experience of war is to go beyond a simple cataloguing of hardships and atrocities. Meyer-Fong resolves this issue, as the title reveals, by focusing on the process by which the Chinese people sought to come to terms with the experience of war.