It looks like Bo Guagua will be going to Columbia Law School, reports The New York Times:

The youngest son of Bo Xilai, the former senior Communist Party official now awaiting a criminal trial, has enrolled at Columbia Law School and is expected to begin studies this fall, according to a family associate and a person from Beijing with high-level contacts.

It is unclear how Mr. Bo will pay for his three-year education at Columbia, which has one of the most expensive law schools in the United States. The law school’s Web site says tuition is $55,916 for the coming academic year, and total charges are $60,234 once other fees are included. Living costs are listed as an additional $22,561. It is also unclear how Mr. Bo paid for his Oxford and Harvard tuitions, though he said in a letter last year to The Harvard Crimson that the tuition and living expenses at those universities and at Harrow, an exclusive British boarding school that he attended, were paid for through scholarships and money that his mother had earned as a lawyer.

I do not believe Columbia has an obligation to perform a “lawful source of funds” test, but expect journalists to keep asking how he is paying the bills.

This week’s Dealbook column looks at the latest small steps to stimulate the economy, as well as at least one sector that is booming in spite of the recent seizure of the commanding heights of Western business media by the “impending China crash” meme. From China Opts for Only Small Steps to Stimulate Economy:

Bearishness toward China has now gone mainstream, and rare is the day without a report on the economy’s impending crash. Bloomberg News has a report on Monday on what might happen if Chinese growth suddenly drops to 3 percent, as at least one investment bank now says is possible.

Investors should consider the possibility that the pendulum has swung too far too quickly, and that the situation is not quite so dire. The next few months may be difficult, but there is the potential for another shift in sentiment in the period before and just after the Communist Party Central Committee’s third plenum meeting in October. Last week, Xi Jinping conducted an inspection tour of Hubei Province and signaled some of the economic reforms and resolve that is likely to come out of the third plenum.

Even in the midst of the broader realization that China’s economy has significant problems, some investors have been able to make money choosing the right sectors and companies. Over the last three months, for example, the CSI Overseas China Internet index has climbed nearly 40 percent…

The Internet is not the only market segment that continues to grow despite China’s slowdown. Nor is it the only one that seems increasingly unfriendly to foreign company participation. GlaxoSmithKline, which has been accused of all sorts of bad behavior in China, looks to be the poster child for Beijing’s campaign to squeeze profits in the health care sector and drive down drug prices…

Earlier this summer, regulators opened an antimonopoly investigation of five foreign makers of infant milk formula, accusing them of price fixing. The firms quickly cut prices despite huge demand for foreign infant formula that now affects the global supply.

On Monday, the government, via the official Xinhua news agency, has taken aim at foreign luxury carmakers, writing that China should investigate their pricingbecause they reap exorbitant profits.

The operating environment for foreign firms, both economically and politically, is getting increasingly difficult, but foreign investors should continue to have plenty of public market opportunities, both on the short and long side.

Tuesday evening is the Sinocism DC dinner and I am looking forward to meeting the several dozen subscribers who signed up. There will not be a July 30 issue of the newsletter, but we will thinking of you as we try to enjoy DC Peking Duck. See you on July 31.

Thanks to everyone who contributed after yesterday’s appeal.

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

是谁捧红了王林 page 5 People’s Daily on the bad officials who believe Wang Lin the Qigong charlatan instead of Marxism-Leninism. It says Wang Lin and his ilk are “spiritual Opium” for some officials…loaded words…would not be surprised to see more Wang Lin’s taken down //王林们是某些官员的精神鸦片… 可以确定的是，王林们的精彩表演和连蒙带骗，既成为不了某些官员们的心灵鸡汤，更成为不了他们的救命稻草，最终只能是某些官员的致命毒素，成为加速他们堕落和灭亡的催化剂。机关算尽太聪明，反误了卿卿性命。不少落马的贪官，大都与形形色色的王林们有着千丝万缕的关联。但到目前为止，还没有看到哪个“大师”慈悲为怀，救人于水火中，劝这些贪官们悬崖勒马。如果“大师”真的有爱心善心，为何不在得知内情时劝其自首，难道这不是真正的“功德无量”？ 对于那些不信马列信鬼神、不问苍生问鬼神的少数官员，有必要大喝一声，是该猛醒的时候了。靠王林们算命占卦、保财保命终究是靠不住的。最终还是要讲党性、讲正气，远离装神弄鬼之徒，远离心怀鬼胎之辈，堂堂正正做人，依法依规办事，一心一意为人民群众服务。做正了人，做好了事，人民才会记住你。

Related: 起底王林_网易专题 The Netease News micro-site on the Wang Lin case. I’ll bet he is detained within a week

Related: 王林与弟子房产纠纷案今二审 本人疑在香港(图)_资讯频道_凤凰网 or has Wang Lin already left the country for Hong Kong or points further? // 新京报讯  昨日，据王林曾经的“徒弟”邹勇向新京报记者表示，他通过公安部门查询，确认“大师”王林于7月26日由深圳皇岗口岸出境。他还表示，王林于近日在微信上展示了一张自己的照片，邹勇称王林这张照片显示的环境是在香港家中的情景。而这张照片下写的拍摄时间是2013年7月29日09∶31分。邹勇表示，王林在香港居住的房屋在香港北角的城市花园酒店附近。

Japan, China Inch Toward Better Ties – WSJ.com Tokyo’s highest-ranking career diplomat traveled to Beijing on Monday for two days of talks to “exchange opinions on a broad range of issues” with Chinese officials, Japan’s chief government spokesman announced. It’s the first time for the foreign ministry’s top official to meet with Chinese counterparts since October, and the first such exchange since new, hard-line leaders have taken power in both countries. “It’s significant, as the first real sign that they’re going to try and engage,” said Sheila Smith, a Japan expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, who recently completed a visit to both Asian countries. “They’ve started the process of a formal diplomatic discussion of what should be the framework for the two leaders to talk about reconciliation.”

Related: Sino-Japanese summit ruled out–China Daily  Beijing ruled out the possibility of an upcoming leaders’ summit with Tokyo on Monday, urging the Japanese government to take concrete measures to improve strained ties rather than brandishing “empty slogans”. The message from a government official, who declines to be named, comes after Isao Iijima, a close adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said on Sunday that Abe could hold a summit with President Xi Jinping in the “not-too-distant future”.

Related: China denies official contact with Abe adviser – Xinhua Media reports said Japanese Cabinet Secretariat Advisor Isao Iijima visited Beijing for four days from July 13 to 16. The reports alleged that during his visit, Iijima coordinated with relevant Chinese officials on the possibility of summit talks. Spokesman Hong Lei said Iijima had applied for a visa to China not long ago. “But as far as I know, there were no official activities during his visit.” Chinese government officials had no contact with Iijima, he added.

Related: INSIGHT: Abe woos 3 ASEAN countries in attempt to box in China – AJW by The Asahi Shimbun In his first overseas trip after his party’s triumph in the July 21 Upper House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthened relations with the Southeast Asian nations of Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in an attempt to contain China’s increasing maritime advances in the region. The prospects remain dim for the resumption of direct talks with the top leaders of China and South Korea. Still, on July 27, the last stop of his three-day swing in Manila, the prime minister proudly hailed his most recent diplomatic effort.

China-EU Solar Panel Deal Seen Hurting Large-Scale Projec – Bloomberg wonder if even Beijing surprised at how easy it was to roll the Europeans? // The deal between the European Union and China to curb imports of Chinese solar panels will limit large-scale projects in the 28-nation bloc while having little effect on manufacturers. The agreement to set a minimum price of 56 euro cents ($0.74) a watt for panels until the end of 2015, reached this weekend, will hurt developers of ground-mounted plants and limit installations, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, IHS Inc. (IHS) and the U.K. Solar Trade Association. Developers were already buying Chinese panels for less, they said.

Related: China agrees to talks on French wine dispute, EU says | Reuters China has agreed to discuss dropping its inquiry into whether Europe is dumping wine, the EU’s trade chief said on Monday, after EU and Chinese officials made a deal to avoid tariffs on solar panels from China.

Another Chinese journalist uses real name to accuse official of corruption | South China Morning Post Liu Hu, an investigative journalist with the New Express newspaper, said on his microblog that Ma Zhengqi, deputy director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), had waived further investigation into the suspicious privatisation of two state-owned companies that were merged when he was party secretary of Wanzhou district in Chongqing. This marks the fourth high-profile exposure in recent months by journalists using their real names on social media. // kind of looks like a pattern

Related: Chinese reporters try weibo to expose corruption when print fails | South China Morning Post Professor Zhan Jiang , who teaches communications at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said the rapid development of social media has resulted in an increased number of mainland journalists turning to microblogs to expose official corruption. “Journalists have much more freedom to say what they want to say on social media than they have with the traditional media platforms for which they work. The success of Luo Changping has also encouraged other reporters to follow suit,” Zhan said.

Violent July: Chinese Seek the Roots of Recent Incidents – TLN Yu Jianrong, a professor famous for his research on China’s politics and the country’s rural areas, analyzed the situation as well, concluding that society was becoming increasingly vicious社会变狠. He gave two reasons: the unequal distribution of benefits, and the invalidation of rules. He expounded upon the latter: “The invalidation of rules creates more problems [than the unequal distribution of benefits]. To what extent will we backslide if the rules are ineffective? We may regress to the state of the jungle, where violence rules and prevails. Violence is a gene suppressed by the evolution of rules. Thus, if rules fail, the violence gene will reemerge…The transition to viciousness is the most explicit sign that rules are becoming ineffective.规则失效的话, 事情就很难办了。规则失效的话, 我们会退到什么地方去? 那就和丛林状态差不多, 谁拳头硬, 谁说了算, 暴力法则就应运而生。暴力是人类和人类社会的一个基因, 只不过依赖规则的进化, 暴力“潜伏”了下来。一旦规则失效, 它就会开始复活……变狠, 是社会规则失效最直观的表现。”

Related: 北京市公安局：严重刑事犯罪露头就打_网易新闻中心

Lessons From the Glaxo Case in China – NYTimes.com Robert M. Radick, a partner at the white-collar law firm Morvillo Abramowitz, wrote at Forbes [link below] that this marks the appearance of a “new policeman” on the foreign bribery beat. And unlike the Justice Department in the United States and the Serious Fraud Office in England, this is a much scarier cop. Glaxo had disclosed earlier that it was having “discussions” with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission over possible foreign corruption issues in its overseas operations, including China. Those investigations are sure to heat up in light of the company’s admissions of violations to the Chinese authorities. But note how much more genteel the United States has been in dealing with Glaxo — discussions are far different from having a number of employees detained for questioning.

Related: Bribery increases medicine prices by 20%: expert |Society |chinadaily.com.cn Twenty percent of the cost of a typical Chinese medication is spent on bribery related to medicine purchases and sales, an industry expert was quoted as saying in a Monday report. Yu Mingde, chief of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association, said sales expenses generally account for 30 to 40 percent of total medicine prices, including reasonable expenditures and illegal disbursements, according to a report in the Monday edition of the China Youth Daily.

Related: Drug firms seek expert advice as unease spreads in wake of GSK affair | South China Morning Post “We have definitely seen a surge in inquiries recently from companies operating in the health care sector,” said Ben Wootliff, Greater China and North Asia corporate inquiries director for Control Risks, a risk consultancy firm. “Clients are increasingly worried that the due diligence they have done on third-party suppliers, including travel agents and marketing firms, is insufficient,” said Wootliff. // oh the DOJ is going to have fun. Will it be harder for firms to cut sweet deals with US regulators now that Chinese authorities are playing hardball?

Edward Snowden’s not the story. The fate of the internet is | Technology | The Observer just another of Snowden’s many gifts to China and Russia// It was always a possibility that the system would eventually be Balkanised, ie divided into a number of geographical or jurisdiction-determined subnets as societies such as China, Russia, Iran and other Islamic states decided that they needed to control how their citizens communicated. Now, Balkanisation is a certainty. Second, the issue of internet governance is about to become very contentious. Given what we now know about how the US and its satraps have been abusing their privileged position in the global infrastructure, the idea that the western powers can be allowed to continue to control it has become untenable.

迷失的家园—在线播放—《迷失的家园》—纪录片—优酷网，视频高清在线观看 poignant 12 minute documentary on ecological destruction in China, by a Beijing film academy graduate

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Central SOEs profits up 18.2 pct in H1 – Xinhua China’s 113 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administered by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), or central SOEs, posted a net profit increase of 18.2 percent year on year in the first half of 2013. The net profits of central SOEs totaled 631.5 billion yuan (102.3 billion U.S. dollars) during the period.

盛夏罕闻“电荒”背后：工业用电疲软_财经频道_一财网 no electricity “famines” i.e. brownouts in spite of the sweltering heat waves around China, as there were in years past, perhaps because industrial electricity usage demand is soft, report First Financial // 如今正值盛夏，酷热难当之际电力负荷不断攀升，但却没有出现往年的电荒现象。接受《第一财经日报》采访的业内人士表示，这与第二产业，尤其是工业用电量增速放缓有关。

China Is Going to Be Just Fine, Says Former World Bank Economist Justin Lin – China Real Time Report – WSJ  Depressed that the Chinese economy may be starting to meltdown? Anxious that Chinese debt is soaring out of control? Chill out, says Justin Yifu Lin, who was the World Bank’s chief economist between 2008 and 2012 before returning to China to work as an academic. China should be able to grow 8% a year for the next 20 according Mr. Lin. Why? “The advantage of backwardness,” he said on Monday, meaning that China is still so poor that it can adapt rich-country technology and conquer new markets, foreign or domestic.

Opinion: Will China’s economy crash? – CNN.com No, says Michael Pettis, but can only grow at 3-4% // There is no doubt that Beijing has a long road ahead in terms of managing a huge economy, but as of now there should be nothing surprising or unexpected about the slowing growth of China. It will probably benefit the Chinese people and the global economy.

WSJ’s Andy Browne on China’s Challenges – Washington Wire – WSJ Andrew Browne of The Wall Street Journal’s Beijing bureau says the outlook is for “continued slowing” of the Chinese economy, reflecting the leadership’s shifting economic strategy. But officials have also put a floor of around 7% on economic growth. And, Mr. Browne says, “We’re almost there.”

China 3% Growth Risk Seen by Barclays Signals Likonomics Anxiety – Bloomberg While Barclays said a scenario in which quarterly growth drops “briefly” to 3 percent at some point in the next three years was “increasingly likely,” its baseline view is for 7.4 percent growth this year and next. Even if growth did slow that much, “the economy would bounce back rapidly afterwards,” the report said. Nomura’s baseline forecast for 2014 is 6.9 percent growth. There is a one-in-three chance that GDP will drop below 5 percent for four consecutive quarters starting at or before the fourth quarter of 2014, said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist in Hong Kong.

Why does China start to audit local government debt again? | The Institute for New Economic Thinking This news has raised tremendous discussions in China and apparently a lot of people are very worried about the local government debt as Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.72% today.  Although the People’s Daily tried to calm everyone down by saying “it was just routine work”, but clearly it was not routine as the last report was just published a month ago and the state auditors have other jobs to do if they did not get the call from the State Council. So why does the State Council want another audit only one month after the last audit report came out? My bold guess is that someone on top was not satisfied with the last report so this VIP wants another one to help him better understand the debt level.

China should probe foreign luxury carmakers over prices: Xinhua | Reuters Foreign carmakers are reaping exorbitant profits selling imported luxury cars in China and should face an anti-trust investigation, the official Xinhua News Agency said, in what may amount to a shot across the bow of foreign auto firms.

Xiao Turns Gray as China IPO Freeze Precedes New Rules – Bloomberg  Four months after taking over as China’s top stock-market regulator, Xiao Gang showed up at a government meeting in July with gray hair at his temples. The salt-and-pepper look provoked debate, even poetry, on China’s Weibo microblog service. Commentators argued whether the challenges of overseeing Asia’s worst-performing major stock market had aged him or if he had stopped dyeing his hair. Xiao, 54, is stuck between more than 700 companies waiting to raise funds and Chinese leaders led by Xi Jinping who have pledged to clean up corruption.

H1 GDP Growth of 30 Provinces in China Above National Figure -Caijing Thirty of China’s 31 provinces have reported GDP growth rates higher than the national figure in the first half of the year, fueling a call for the government to crack down on inflated economic data. Beijing and Shanghai are the only two that reported growth lower than 8% among the 30 provinces that have so far released their GDP figures. The two both grew a yearly 7.7% in the first half, still higher than the national 7.6% expansion for the same period. Qinghai hasn’t released the number yet.

China money rates jump at month-end, big banks refrain from lending | Reuters Chinese corporations and banks are stocking up on cash to make dividend payments and massage mandated loan-to-deposit ratios before the end of the month, putting cyclical upward pressure on rates. The volume-weighted average price of the seven-day bond
repurchase agreement opened with an unusually early quote of 5 percent at 9:22 a.m. local time (0122 GMT). Traders said the rate was high but not particularly so given month-end factors, and it was followed up by multiple quotes in the same range

China to Audit Local Debts as It Cautions a Detroit-Like Crisis-Caijing The bankruptcy of Detroit has sounded an alarm that some Chinese governments have to be cautious in taking on debts, and support the development of the real economy, Professor Guo Tinyong at the Central University of Finance and Economics warned.

地方债“黑洞”引中央警觉 违规行为将是审计重点_财经频道_一财网  First Financial on the local debt black hole, says improper behavior to be a focus of the new audit…those auditors will be busy // 国家审计署网站28日挂出的一条短消息，瞬间传遍市场，释放出强烈的信号——地方政府债务“黑洞”已经引发中央高度警觉。

Tesla’s ‘wild card’: China’s auto market – San Jose Mercury News hear opening behind schedule due to customs issues // Its first showroom in mainland China, scheduled to open later this year, will be in central Beijing at the exclusive Parkview Green mall, a gleaming, pyramid-shaped plaza designed with sky-gardens and atria spaces. It is the first mixed-use commercial project in China to be certified LEED Platinum for its energy-efficient design, and Tesla’s 8,000-square-foot showroom will be roughly three times larger than its U.S. showrooms.

李大霄：中国崩溃不靠谱 炒股谁都不要听就听党_证券时报网 李大霄（财苑）指出，A股会坚守2000点，在中国股票投资者要讲政治，在资本市场上与国家同步(听党的话)胜算会更高，关键时候还要关注关键先生的观点。“他说，”国内听谁的？国内经济学家众说纷纭。国外的经济学家有很多观点在质疑中国的市场。我的观点是国内谁都不要听，习近平主席给我们指明了一个非常重要的方向，即2020年GDP与收入的倍增计划，这是我们中华民族的发展方向。你知道了这个方向，你就知道了那些中国崩溃论是多么不靠谱，中国的经济增长是即将进入7%没有水分的增长，而且7%是增长的底线，增长的下线是7.5%。

前女友举报前监管员涉内幕交易 深交所称将继续调查|深交所监管员|内幕交易_21世纪网 girlfriend accuses former boyfriend of insider trading when he was a supervisor at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange…And we are surprised? // “李洪弢已从交易所离职，但交易所还会在职权范围内继续调查此事。如果是内幕交易行为，我们肯定不会姑息。”深交所相关负责人29日告诉本报记者。

江浙支行长们的“钱权江湖”：收钱收卡搭干股|江浙支行长|收钱_21世纪网 enlightening 21st CBH story on corrupt bank branch heads in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The shadow banking market would not be nearly as buoyant without corrupt bankers and officials // “支行领导这个层面，一个是通过放贷款赚钱，另一个是所谓的影子银行，从中获得资金价格差价，形式很多样。”

 

POLITICS AND LAW

薄熙来篡党夺权失败 中共应杀薄祭旗_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei compares Bo Xilai to Gao Gang, says the Party needs to execute him. Duowei pretty consistent that Bo should get the death penalty. Are they channeling anyone whose opinion matters? // 和高岗一样，薄熙来的确是一介才子，有不凡的政治手腕，二人都曾权倾一方，声震朝野，如日中天，势不可挡。但可惜此二人都长于机会主义，与中共政党文化相违背，太过主动争取权位，长期苦心经营，临阵决策却都犯了高估自身的毛病，活生生断送了政治前程。正所谓“一招不慎，满盘皆输”、“机关算尽太聪明，反误了卿卿性命”。

The Bo Xilai Trial: What’s It Really About? | ChinaFile John Garnaut–The spectacular rise and fall of Bo Xilai blew open the façade of Communist Party unity that had concealed widening fault lines in society and the leadership elite. For the first time, the webs of power and money that bind and also divide China’s red aristocracy were exposed for the world to see. The Party will try its best to erect a new façade, and perhaps hold it in place with rubber bands and gaffer tape, but the underlying problems remain entirely unresolved

雷声大雨点小 群众路线遭现实拷打_中国_多维新闻网 Duowei says lots of thunder, little rain so far in Xi’s mass line education campaign and corruption crackdown // 如若当局真想在反腐问题上赢得民心，与民众站在同一阵营里，除了严格依法处置已经被逮了现行的老虎、苍蝇外，还应该主动去抓老虎、打苍蝇。目前来看，应声倒下的官员大多是被实名举报或是因情妇反目。轰轰烈烈奔赴各地的中央巡视组起到了多大作用？军队中窝藏的谷俊山这样的大老虎为何迟迟不逮出来？新华社记者实名举报华润董事长宋林，当局为何第一时间想到的是舆论封锁和管控，而不是经过切实的调查给民众一个负责任的交代？群众路线教育实践活动喊出的口号是“永远同人民在一起”，此处的“在一起”并非简单地当局说几句抚慰民心的话，老百姓把脉中央之好喊几句“共产党万岁”，而是更多地包含于相互信任、相互依托。从这个层面来看，群众路线只是迈出了一小步，而且这一步迈得并不尽如人意。

Officials punished for breaking bureaucracy-busting rules – Xinhua | English.news.cn The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday publicly criticized eight local officials or offices that have violated the eight bureaucracy-busting guidelines enshrined within the Party. Officials involved in these cases have been given a warning or stripped of their CPC or government posts, according to a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC. In the eight cases made public Monday, most of the officials had misappropriated public funds for entertainment purposes or illegally accepted cash and gifts, according to the CCDI statement.

[视频]中央纪委通报8起顶风违反中央八项规定精神典型问题_新闻频道_央视网 8 officials made examples of for breaking the “eight rules”…get ther public shaming on the CCTV Evening News as well as in People’s Daily and all over the web // 这8起典型问题是：河南省地矿局测绘地理信息院违规公款吃喝，广东省农村信用社人力资源部总经理带领16人公款吃喝玩乐，四川省达州市安全生产监管局党组成员、副局长在考核工作期间公款娱乐，湖北省武汉市青山区新沟桥街道党工委书记组织10名工作人员赴海南公款旅游，吉林省公主岭市委书记违反规定工作日午餐饮酒，上海市宝山区环保局环境监察支队支队长等人违规接受宴请和收受礼金，湖南省司法厅副厅长为其子大办婚宴收取礼金，河北省沽源县平定堡镇党委书记兼街道党工委第一书记为其女大办婚宴收取礼金。以上人员均受到党纪政纪处分。

Official sacked over daughter’s expensive wedding – Xinhua | English.news.cn The Communist Party of China (CPC) head of a poverty-sticken township was sacked over his daughter’s opulent wedding, serving as a warning to all CPC members, the Party said in a circular on Monday. Yue Shuwang, party chief of Pingdingbao Township, the seat of impoverished Guyuan County in north China’s Hebei Province, was removed from his post after an investigation showed that he spent 200,000 yuan (about 32,400 U.S.dollars) on a wedding banquet for his daughter on July 17 and received 1 million yuan in gifts from others.

Uproar after Guangxi official Chen Mingming calls critics ‘human scumbags’ | South China Morning Post Chen replied: “Some people curse their own country every day, but they continue to stay here rather than move to the US! [They should] go to America as fast as they can! But first they should have plastic surgery they won’t be recognised as Chinese. “Some people don’t love their own country, and feel upset about being a Chinese. So just let them go to the US, the faster the better! Human scumbags!” // 贵州副省长”不爱国者是人渣讲”到底应该是谁？ – 社会民生 – 时评界 新浪微博实名认证的贵州省副省长陈鸣明于28日晚转发一条美国枪击案微博后，评论爆出激烈言辞引发舆论关注

一把手是关键–本报评论员 –人民日报 哪里有一把手带头，哪里就有工作新局面。在群众路线教育实践活动中，各地区、各单位、各部门的主要领导理当牢记政治责任，恪尽职守、守土有责，坚持一把手带头干、一把手亲自抓，让这项中央高度重视、群众高度期待的教育实践活动，善始善终、善做善成。

茅台集团零增长 “降价能否促销”仍存疑_财经频道_一财网  Moutai 1H 2013 sales only grew 0.6% over 1H 12 sales…// 茅台集团上半年销售收入同比增长1亿元，增幅仅为0.6%，几近零增长。

广东科技厅长被查 爆LED行业政府补助乱象_财经频道_一财网  Head of Guangdong provincial Science and Technology department is under investigation, may be related to misuse of subsidies for energy efficient LED lighting // 据广东省纪委消息，广东省科技厅厅长李兴华因涉嫌严重违纪，正在接受组织调查。甚至有人认为，广东全省普及LED公共照明的计划将会受到影响。

 

FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS

Xi: Troops must strictly follow CPC leadership – Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping (C), also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), shakes hands with military cadre during his tour of the Beijing Military Area Command in Beijing, capital of China, July 29, 2013. Xi made this visit ahead of the Army Day, which falls on Aug. 1 and marks the 86th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

Commentary: No more irresponsible remarks on Myanmar-China pipelines – Xinhua Irresponsible remarks on the Myanmar-China oil and gas Pipeline project should stop as the scientifically proven feasible project has benefited multiple parties. A Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline (Myanmar section) started to deliver gas to China on Sunday, signalling a landmark step for the huge energy transmit project, which also includes building a crude oil pipeline. Western criticism of the cross-border pipelines is totally irresponsible and ill-disposed.

Aggressive Chinese territorial claims bring risks: U.S. general | Reuters Aggressive moves by China to assert territorial claims run the risk of “miscalculations” but are also helping Washington strengthen ties with other countries in the region, the general who oversees U.S. air forces in the Pacific said Monday. “Being fairly aggressive runs the risk of creating the potential for miscalculation,” Air Force General Herbert Carlisle told defense reporters in Washington. “That’s something we think about every day.”

China military puts best foot forward, plays down tensions | Reuters on an annual trip to a Chinese military base — this year, for the first time, one outside of Beijing — officers were at pains to show they had nothing to hide and the world had nothing to fear. “The Chinese people and the People’s Liberation Army are peace loving,” said Chen Xifeng, the gruff commander of the base in Lintong, which is close to the northern tomb where the famed Terracotta Warriors were discovered.

 

HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN

Wynn Resorts’ Profit Lags Estimates on Weaker Macau Sales – Bloomberg Shares of casinos with operations in Macau have fallen in the past two months as investors focused on economic warning signals from China. Betting receipts in Macau are expected to see a “visible” slowdown in the second half of 2013 as high-stakes players contribute a smaller share of casino revenue, the city’s Monetary Authority said July 17.

Civilian to run Taiwan’s military following outrage over soldier’s death | South China Morning Post Taiwan’s cabinet yesterday named a civilian to head the defence ministry in a move to subdue growing outrage over the death of a corporal held in a military brig earlier this month. Andrew Yang Nian-zu, a scholar-turned deputy defence minister, will replace his boss, Kao Hua-chu, as defence minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said.

TISA Deal a Barometer for Taiwan’s Trade Liberalization Agenda | cogitASIA CSIS Asia Policy Blog On June 21, mainland China and Taiwan signed a Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), promising to open up certain service sectors on either side of the Taiwan Strait to increase investment and trade. The TISA has triggered harsh criticism within Taiwan from the main opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as well as from several legislators of the ruling Kuomingtang (KMT) party, and leading members of certain local industries. In response to vociferous demands, the Legislative Yuan has agreed to thoroughly scrutinize the TISA by reviewing each clause individually before a vote. The robust debate on the TISA demonstrates to the international community that Taiwan’s public and lawmakers are engaging in a serious discussion on a strategic decision that will impact the island’s future trajectory.

 

TECH AND MEDIA

Apple to Probe Claims of Pegatron Labor Violations – Bloomberg Apple Inc. (AAPL) will investigate allegations by advocacy group China Labor Watch that factories run by Taiwanese supplier Pegatron Corp. (4938) use underage workers, pay insufficient wages and force employees to work overtime.The New York-based group found at least 86 labor rights violations while investigating three Pegatron factories from March to July, it said in a report issued today. Apple has been in close contact with the group for several months, yet the report contains “claims that are new to us,” and those will be probed immediately, Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, said in a phone interview today.

Alibaba may buy into PPTV: Sources–China Daily Negotiations for China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to buy into PPTV, China’s P2P streaming video platform are drawing to a close and the news is promised, Sina.com.cnreported citing sources on Monday. But one source close to executives of PPLive Inc. reportedly said the deal may not be clear until the end of August.

County-level Cities Overshadowed First- and Second- tier Cities in Online Purchasing: Taobao Report County-level cities eclipsed first- and second-tier cities to become a major development momentum for the online purchasing sector, according to the Online Purchasing Development Report on County-level Cities released by Taobao.com (in Chinese).

 

SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY

Chinese dreamin’ on the Street of Eternal Happiness | Marketplace.org  A few blocks down the street, I catch up with Zhao Silin, hard at work at her flower shop. In the past year, business has slowed. So has China’s economy, steered by the frugal policies of new president Xi Jinping. “The government’s cracking down on banquets and other expenditures for local officials. That’s been bad for business,” says Zhao.  “Hotels have lost business, too. Fashion stores along the street are closing, and rents are starting to drop.”

Cutting-edge fashion: China’s next biggest export–Global Sources The Shenzhen Fashion School aims to develop this potential. Scheduled to open in March 2014, the school will offer short and long courses targeting all aspects of the fashion industry, not just design. Wang said the school aims to fill the talent gap in the Shenzhen fashion industry by teaching recent fashion and design graduates, well-versed in theory, real-life practical applications, internships and job placement opportunities. The fashion school is the brainchild of Wang’s mother who is the president of the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association.

 

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH

PX产业，我们可以不发展吗 People’s Daily on why PX plants are not bad., short front page lead-in to longer page 4 story // 专家表示，目前各国PX产业技术水平都差不多。中国由于发展较晚，反而更有后发优势，因为一上马都是最新装置，在节能、环保方面都处于世界先进水平。中国PX建设往往一步到位，运作模式、装备水平比欧美和韩国改造得要好。（相关报道见第四版）

中石油被指非法排污 鄂尔多斯牛羊暴死|中石油|非法排污|_21世纪网 heavy rains lead to nasty pollution incident from a PetroChina project near Ordos, kills several hundred nearby sheep // 核心提示：突如其来的大雨，裹挟着中石油苏里格气田第三项目部的苏5-15-27AH井场泥浆池黑色粘稠的液体，流向额日克淖尔湖及周围草场，从那时起，附近牧民的牛羊陆续死亡，至今已超过500头。

Clean Coal? | China Policy Brief Had the plan been implemented, top lignite exporters to China like Indonesia or Mongolia, not to mention rising high-sulphur coal exporter, the USA, would have suffered. Going protectionist may have brought WTO retaliation. Some imported coal, claims Yu, is in fact sourced from Chinese-owned foreign mines. Without coal imports, explains Harbin Industrial University professor Li Chaolin, power stations could no longer blend foreign low-grade with domestic high-grade products, placing cost pressures on the industry. Clarity is needed, says Yu: ‘imports constitute less than 10 percent of total domestic consumption, and have only regional effects, above all on south-east coastal provinces.’ Recent news confirms that compromise between  the two industries failed, and the ‘Temporary Measures’ will be shelved without  limits imposed.

China Coal Price Falls to Four-Year Low Amid Economic Slowdown – Bloomberg Coal with an energy value of 5,500 kilocalories a kilogram at Qinhuangdao, the country’s biggest shipping port for the fuel, slid to a range of 560 yuan ($91.34) to 575 yuan a metric ton as of yesterday, the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association reported today. That’s the lowest since July 27, 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices have decreased the past six weeks.

 

FOOD AND TRAVEL

60-70% of honey in Jinan is fake | Danwei The front cover of today’s Jinan Times is dominated by an exposé of the Shandong honey industry, with a headline proclaiming “60-70% of honey on the market is adulterated,” leading into a detailed feature article on pages two and three. The report claims that the production of counterfeit honey in China is an open secret to industry insiders, and so journalists from the Jinan Times went undercover to investigate. If you enjoy eating honey, as the Chinese have since ancient times, then you will not like what these reporters found.

信阳农药茶大量流向外地成公开秘密 茶农不喝自己种的茶|农药|茶叶|信阳_新浪财经_新浪网 CCTV digs into the problem of pesticide resdues on tea…I only drink Lipton tea bags and Pu’er when I am in China. if those not safe either, please don’t tell me // 中国：世界最大产茶国出口频频受挫–　中国是世界上第三大茶叶出口国，每年的茶叶出口量占全世界总量接近20%，但却屡屡出口受挫，外国人不愿意买我们的茶，最重要的原因就是农药残留问题。那么，我国茶叶生产到底是怎样的现状？农药超标是否真的非常严重？在茶叶最易长虫的季节，我们的记者到著名的毛尖茶叶主产区河南省信阳市进行了调查。

北京近八成流通食用冰来自黑工厂 成本3元卖10元 |北京|食用冰|黑工厂_新浪财经_新浪网 on the heels of the dirty KFC ice cubes comes a report that 80% of the ice cubes in Beijing come from “black” factories…// “肯德基[微博]冰块门”事件的发酵让自制冰块的监管空白问题成为消费者关注的焦点。值得注意的是，除了部分餐饮企业自制的食用冰块，还有众多制冰企业生产的食用冰在市面上流通。

 

BEIJING

Beijing plans $81b shantytown renovation project–China Daily For Zhang Yingfen, 79, who lives in a small house with her 83-year-old husband and three other family members, plans to renovate shantytowns inside Beijing’s Fourth Ring Road seem to promise a great improvement in quality of life. Her one-story house of 18 square meters in Liuhaodi is among those earmarked for the municipal government’s planned urban renovations project, which will involve 500 billion yuan ($81.5 billion) of investment over the next five years.

 

BOOKS AND LITERATURE

Lu Xun’s Revolution: Writing in a Time of Violence: Gloria Davies: Amazon heard good things, just bought // Widely recognized as modern China’s preeminent man of letters, Lu Xun (1881–1936) is revered as the voice of a nation’s conscience, a writer comparable to Shakespeare and Tolstoy in stature and influence. Gloria Davies’s portrait now gives readers a better sense of this influential author by situating the man Mao Zedong hailed as “the sage of modern China” in his turbulent time and place. In Davies’s vivid rendering, we encounter a writer passionately engaged with the heady arguments and intrigues of a country on the eve of revolution. She traces political tensions in Lu Xun’s works which reflect the larger conflict in modern Chinese thought between egalitarian and authoritarian impulses. During the last phase of Lu Xun’s career, the so-called “years on the left,” we see how fiercely he defended a literature in which the people would speak for themselves, and we come to understand why Lu Xun continues to inspire the debates shaping China today.